What is a Maternity Cover?

Maternity or pregnancy is one of the most crucial and joyous phases of a person's or a couple’s life. The joy of becoming a parent is unparalleled. So, in order to make sure that you are up for that responsibility, one needs to plan and prepare in advance. And that involved financial planning as well. The joy of having a younger one should not be accompanied by the stress of mounting expenses. The expenses incurred during the pregnancy period can be really high. Regular medical consultations, hospital stays, and delivery expenses are no joke. One needs to have a sound financial plan in place to meet these medical expenses and also ensure sufficient funds are there to meet their growing child’s needs. Maternity insurance can help meet your medical expenses arising during pregnancy and make sure you are financially afloat.

A "Maternity cover" is a component of a floater health insurance policy for an individual or family that covers all maternity-related expenses.

It can either be a part of your policy or can be taken as an add-on cover. Anyone planning to raise a family in the future should have this policy covered to meet such expenses. So, when the time comes, all pregnancy-related expenses such as hospitalisation costs, pre and postnatal such as cost of ultrasound, regular consultations, medicines, etc., medical treatments due to complications in pregnancy, medically necessary termination, etc. Some policies may also cover expenses for treating fertility issues and new-born baby hospitalisation as part of this plan.

Why do you need maternity cover?

1. Financial Stability: Maternity insurance will keep you financially secure during a critical period in your life. Delivery and hospitalisation expenses can be huge and can really hit your savings. Maternity cover will ensure such expenses are covered and you don’t have to liquidate your assets.
2. Long-term Benefits: A maternity policy will cover you for up to two deliveries. So, all your maternity related expenses in years to come are covered and you can focus on investing your savings to meet your children’s needs in the future.
3. Stay stress-free: Welcoming your little bundle of joy is one of the most special and joyous moments of your life. The last thing we want for you is to carry the stress of medical expenses at the back of your mind. A maternity cover will make sure you are free from financial worries and can focus on celebrating the moment.
4. New Born Babies: A maternity policy will cover any hospitalisation expenses of the new born baby for up to 90 days, so you don’t have to worry about the child’s medication and the expenses thereof.

Who needs maternity insurance?

A maternity cover is best suited for:

1. Newly married couples: Couples who have recently married and intend to start a family within the next 3 to 4 years.
2. Second Child: Couples who are planning to have a second child in the next two to three years should really consider this policy.
3. People about to get married: Couples are about to get married and are planning to start a family some years down the line.
4. Couples who are not planning to start a family now but would like to be financially prepared for that possibility.

When can you benefit from maternity cover?

You can take advantage of maternity cover only:

1. If you have this cover as part of your health insurance policy.
2. If you have 3 successful renewals, or in other words, you have completed 36 months of the waiting period.
3. If you have not used the cover for 2 deliveries already.

What’s covered under Health Insurance with Maternity Cover by Chola MS?

Chola MS offers you Chola flexi health supreme Policy, whose maternity cover will pay for:
 

1. Delivery expenses: All expenses related to delivery, like hospitalisation costs, medicines, etc., are covered up to 50,000 under plus plan and 1 lakh under premier plan.
2. Caesarean Section: Also known as C-Section delivery, this refers to a situation in which the doctor is forced to perform surgery to deliver the baby because normal delivery is either not recommended or deemed risky for the mother, child, or both.
3. Room rent charges: All expenses related to room rent charges or other hospitalisation expenses w.r.t to the pregnancy are also covered.
4. Maternity related complications: Sadly, sometimes mothers do face complications during pregnancy and may require medical assistance to deal with it. This policy will cover expenses pertaining to pregnancy-related complications.
5. Medically necessary termination: This policy will cover any lawful or medically necessary termination of a pregnancy. There are no limits as to the number of terminations for which you can make a claim.
6. New born baby Cover: Your policy will pay for the hospitalisation expenses for a new born baby, from the day of birth to 90 days, provided that it is following a valid claim under maternity expenses for an insured mother. The new born baby will be covered within the sum insured of the mother if the policy is on an individual sum insured basis. In the case of a family floater policy, the floater sum insured will be the maximum limit for this benefit.

What’s not covered under the policy?

1. Initial Waiting Period: There is an initial waiting period of 30 days from the date of policy inception during which no claims can be filed except in the case of accidental hospitalization.
2. Waiting period for Maternity Expenses: There is a waiting period of 36 months for maternity expenses during which no pregnancy-related expenses will be covered.
3. Existing Pregnancy: If at the time of buying the policy, the person insured is also pregnant, expenses related to this pregnancy will not be covered.
4. Beyond 2 deliveries: Your maternity plan will only cover expenses up to 2 deliveries. No subsequent delivery will be covered under the policy.
5. Pre and post-natal expenses are costs related to ultrasound, regular check-ups, doctor's consultation fees, and medicines, etc. These are like pre-and post-hospitalisation expenses that are admissible under your maternity cover.
6. Sterility and infertility: Expenses related to sterility and infertility This includes:

• Any type of contraception or sterilization?
• Assisted reproduction services, including artificial insemination and advanced reproductive technologies such as IVF, ZIFT, GIFT, ICSI
• Gestational surrogacy
• Reversal of sterilization.

Why should you buy a policy from Chola MS?

1. Will cover for a host of expenses: Our policy will cover a host of expenses related to maternity. Right from medicine, tests, to pregnancy-related hospitalisation expenses. All are covered under your policy.
2. Cashless Claims: We will settle your hospital bill directly and you don’t have to pay expenses from your own pocket.
3. Large network of hospitals: You get access to 14000  partner hospitals to avail of cashless claims facilities.
4. New born baby cover: Our policy also provides the benefit of covering your new born baby’s medical expenses for the first 90 days up to the sum insured.
5. Coverage for more than one child: Our policy will cover you for two deliveries. So you can plan your future family without any stress or worry.

How to file a claim for your maternity expenses:

There are two ways you can file a claim:

1. Cashless Claims: This facility is only available at our partner hospitals. You can visit our website to find an updated list of partner hospitals.

• Inform the hospital about the current policy and share your policy document along with valid ID proof.
• Pre authorization form should be submitted to Chola MS.
• We will review the documents and start processing the cashless approval considering the terms and conditions of the policy
• In some cases, field doctor is sent to hospital to complete the authorization process
• If eligible and approved, claim is directly settled with the hospital.

2. Re-imbursement Claims:

• Upon hospitalisation, the insured person or his/her dependents shall provide us with fully particularised details of the quantum of any claim to be reimbursed and any and all other information and documentation in respect of the claim and/or our liability for it sought by our In-House Claims team at the earliest possible opportunity, not exceeding 30 days from the date of discharge.
• We will make a payment for any claim only after the validity and quantum of your claim is verified
• The insured shall obtain and furnish to the company all copies of bills, receipts, and any other documentation upon which a claim is based. `Except in cases where a fraud is suspected, ordinarily no document not listed in the policy terms and conditions shall be deemed ‘necessary’.
• Payment will only be made (unless already paid direct to the service provider/hospital) to you or your nominee.