Top Maternity Health Insurance Plans

Maternity health insurance plans are plans that cover maternity costs or costs associated with childbirth. This means insurance companies will pay for childbirth expenses, treatment costs linked to newborns and any additional expenses (like vaccinations) that you may incur during your stay at the hospital.

However, despite the high demand, not all providers offer maternity coverage. They fear frequent and substantial payouts as most policyholders would likely use it. So they generally exclude the benefit.

As a consequence, health insurers that do extend maternity coverage do so after introducing specific clauses and restrictions. This necessitates a careful assessment of whether this coverage truly offers you any advantages.

So here is a look at some of the best maternity health insurance plans in the market as of 2023.

Top Maternity Health Insurance Plans

How to Determine the Best Maternity Health Insurance Plans?

• Waiting period

Since people who opt for maternity coverage are generally expecting to have kids in the near future, insurers impose a waiting period of 2-4 years. You and your spouse must maintain the policy for this duration before being eligible to claim maternity expenses. This means you are looking at some meticulous family planning or you could opt for a plan with low waiting periods.

• Coverage

Deliveries frequently bring about medical complications for both the mother and the newborn, necessitating extensive coverage. Ideally, the most desirable option would be to obtain a plan that doesn't impose sub-limits on maternity coverage.

For instance, many insurance policies impose specific coverage limits for normal deliveries (e.g., ₹50k), C-sections (e.g. ₹75k), and coverage for newborns. The goal is to optimize protection on all three fronts.

• Premiums

Since insurers generally expect to make payouts with maternity plans, they tend to seek a higher premium in exchange. So you have to make sure that the total premiums that you pay don’t exceed the total expenses you generally incur during childbirth. However having said that, if you’re worried about your newborn and their overall health, then a maternity cover can offer significant protection since insurance policies with maternity benefits generally cover babies from day 1 as opposed to covering them after 3 months.

What are the Best Maternity Health Insurance Plans?

1. CARE - CARE

Care, a health insurance policy from Care (the company) is a decent option for those seeking affordable and comprehensive policies. It offers limited room rent restrictions, no copayments (except for those above 60), and doesn’t impose separate caps in coverage for C-sections and normal deliveries. Here is a look at its maternity perk -

• Maternity coverage up to ₹1 lakh is available if the chosen sum insured exceeds ₹50 lakhs.
• A 2-year waiting period applies, and it's only offered in family floater plans.

Drawbacks: Care’s Care plan has a 4-year waiting period for pre-existing conditions, a limited No-Claim Bonus of 10% (capped at 50%), and one concerning coverage clause i.e. the maternity benefit is only available for sums insured over ₹50 lakh. Also, Care has a high complaint volume.

2. Niva Bupa - Health Premia Gold

Niva Bupa's Health Premia Gold is a comprehensive plan with benefits like international coverage, short waiting periods, and maternity coverage. The maternity plan offers -

• A coverage of ₹70k against a sum insured of ₹10 lakhs. This coverage amount varies based on your chosen sum insured.
• A 2-year waiting period.
• Immediate coverage for newborns from Day 1. This is a unique perk considering a majority of the plans offer newborn coverage for newborns who are older than 90 days

Drawbacks: Health Premia Gold is an expensive policy and its international coverage option is valid only for emergency treatments.

3. Tata Aig - Medicare Premier

TATA AIG's Medicare Premier is an all-inclusive plan, covering dental care, OPD, international coverage, and health checkups. But that’s not all. The maternity coverage is also highly attractive with features like

• Maternity costs covered up to ₹50k (boy child) or ₹60k (girl child) with a 4-year waiting period.
• For newborn baby coverage, the child has a ₹10k cover for delivery-related health complications and an additional ₹10k (boy child) or ₹15k (girl child) for vaccinations

Drawbacks: The plan is pretty expensive. Moreover, its maternity coverage excludes pre/postnatal care, pre/post-hospitalization charges, and comes with a lengthy 4 year waiting period.

4. Star Health Comprehensive

Star's Flagship health insurance plan is comprehensive, including dental care, a wellness program, restoration, and a PED waiting period reduction add-on (PED Buyback rider). Its maternity benefits include:

• For mothers with a sum insured of ₹10 lakhs - ₹25 lakhs, maternity coverage ranges from ₹30k to ₹50k,
• The coverage for newborns is ₹1 lakh against a sum insured of ₹10 lakhs - ₹25 lakhs.
• The coverage for both the mother and the newborn is subject to changes based on the opted sum insured.
• The waiting period for this benefit is 2 years.

Drawbacks: Due to increased claim rejections, a reduced product range, and growing client complaints, Star's reputation is declining. Their Comprehensive plan is somewhat costly and provides newborn coverage only after one year

Should you buy Maternity Health Insurance Plans?

Maternity insurance plans aim to bridge financial gaps during childbirth, but their value depends on:

1. Sub-limits - A majority of maternity health insurance policies have sub-limits based on chosen coverage, which may not cover unexpected medical costs
2. Extensive waiting period - Most plans have a 2-4 year waiting period, requiring meticulous family planning.
3. Perk available for family floater policies only - For all maternity health insurance plans (except Star Comprehensive), both parents must be covered under a single plan and both individuals must have served the pre-decided waiting period under this same policy if they want to avail of this perk. Needless to say, this is an extremely rigid clause on the part of the insurers and often requires painstaking planning for the pregnancy.
4. Exorbitant premiums - As you may have realised already, maternity plans are generally very expensive and these expenses add over many years affecting your total payout. For instance, imagine you and your spouse opt for a family floater maternity health insurance plan.

After 5 years you make a pregnancy claim and the insurer pays for some of the costs and you are happy. However, you'll continue to pay a relatively high premium every year even if you never get pregnant again. This elevated premium persists throughout the entire policy term.

Here is a look at the numbers -

Policyholder: 35 and 30 years old

Insurer: Niva Bupa

Coverage: ₹20 lakhs

5. Limited coverage

Every maternity health insurance policy imposes limits not only on the coverage amount but also on the specific medical conditions covered. Caps on C-sections, ectopic pregnancies, IVF, and similar conditions are typically excluded.

Considering these factors, getting a health insurance plan with maternity benefits may not be effective all the time. However, childbirth involves complications and significant expenses. So if you are worried about your newborn and you can afford it, then buying a maternity plan definitely makes a lot of sense.