Mediclaim policies in India such as maternity insurance are offered by insurance firms as a component of group insurance policies to corporate houses. None of the general insurance firms provide complete Insurance Policy for Pregnant Women as the coverage shields only unanticipated risk cover and maternity is not categorized under this. Moreover, there are no particular parameters or consistency among the various pregnant women insurance benefits, either in its inclusions or in its omissions. However, there are few firms offering maternity insurance policies but they rarely cover maternity expenses that take place within the nine months of buying the scheme.
Companies offering Insurance Policies for Pregnant Women:
It is vital for maternity insurance to incorporate all expenditures incurred during pregnancy, right from the delivery to post-natal care in Indian hospitals. The companies which offer Insurance Policy for Pregnant Women are: Apollo DKV, ICICI Lombard, United India Insurance, Cholamandalam General Insurance and Star Health. Some of them are described briefly as under:
- ICICI Lombard's Health Advantage Plus provides health insurance along with OPD (outpatient department) cover that incorporates pre-natal examinations and medical costs.
- United India Insurance offers maternity insurance under its group policy. It offers coverage for maternity expenditures on imbursement of an additional premium and also covers expenditures incurred during hospitalization. The patients admitted in nursing homes are also entitled to an amount of ` 50,000 or the sum assured, whichever is less.
- Apollo DKV provides maternity benefits such as day care coverage, expenses met before and after hospitalization, etc. Apollo DKV's Easy Health provides portability of advantages where the ensued advantages allocated under the existing insurance schemes with other insurer can be brought down to Easy health insurance policy.
Inclusions under Insurance Policy for Pregnant Women
A number of group insurance policies offered by insurance firms for working women envelop maternity advantages and insurance. The inclusions under Insurance Policy for Pregnant Women are:
- All pregnancy associated hospitalization costs,
- Before and after hospitalization costs for pre-determined number of days,
- Surgeries and pregnancy related complications and
- Expenditures incurred pre- and post-natal durations
Exclusions under Insurance Policy for Pregnant Women
Many insurance policies neither incorporate expenses met during monthly medical checkups after pregnancy nor does it envelops costs incurred towards medications consumed during pregnancy. Insurance Policy for Pregnant Women in India also does not constitute:
- Unanticipated events resulting in the termination of pregnancy for the initial few weeks,
- Medical costs for pregnancies taking place during nine months of purchasing the maternity insurance policy
The insurance firms offer these benefits under their group policies for corporate firm that is subject to the condition of inclusion of minimum number of individuals working in the organization.
Factors influencing the premium of Insurance Policy for Pregnant Women
The premiums forfeited under group insurance policies offered by Insurance firms that incorporates maternity insurance are influenced by various aspects.
- First and foremost, the premium allocated under Insurance Policy for Pregnant Women depends on the company's profile which is being insured. Besides its profile, the sector under which it is functioning and its related risk factors are also taken into consideration. In the FY 2007-08 around 3/4th of firms working in the sector of Information technology, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing picked group insurance scheme with maternity benefits.
- Other aspects that influences the premium of maternity insurance is the employee profile, her age group, designation, etc and earlier health insurance assertion ratios applicable to the firm.
- The last factor affecting premium is the frequency of utilization of maternity insurance and other health policies by the firm's employees.
