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GeoBaby.Com arrow Articles arrow Advertorial arrow Maternity and Family Insurance
Maternity and Family Insurance
Article Index
Maternity and Family Insurance
What Will Maternity Insurance Offer
Waiting Period
Newborn Coverage
Page 4 of 4


Maternity insurance and Newborn coverage:

One of the most critical aspects to consider when obtaining maternity insurance is the issue of whether or not your plan will provide coverage for your newborn infant. Usually a maternity plan will offer two options in regards to newborn coverage, these are;

• Free benefit for the child: when a plan offers this option it means that the policy will offer free treatment for a newborn infant. Typically a free benefit will always have a specific time frame or financial cap associated with it. In most cases the free benefit will provide cover for the first 30 days of a child’s life or will cover the cost of medical treatment up to USD$ 30,000. Once these limits have been reached, you will need to apply for continuing coverage. The biggest draw back when relying on the free benefit is the fact that there may be some complications with the birth, or the child may be born with a health issue. If this is the case then the insurance company may deny the infant continuing coverage after the limit of the benefit has been reached.

• Born into the plan: if a child is born into a plan then they will be assured of coverage no matter what the state of their health is. This is important in the event that the newborn has any congenital birth defects or other health issues as treatment for these types of conditions can be extremely expensive. If your child is being born into the plan, it is important that you notify the insurance company shortly after the birth to confirm that the infant will receive continued cover. It is also important to note that the premium for the plan will increase with this coverage option.

The reason that newborn coverage is so important is that many children are born with health issues. These can be minor (as is the case with some skin defects) or life threatening (such as neurological and cardiovascular conditions), but a congenital birth defect is almost always extremely expensive to treat. Some of the most common congenital birth defects are:

• Structural or Metabolic
• Infectious
• Genetic
• Cardiovascular

Newborn coverage will usually be subjected to a waiting period. In many cases the shortest waiting period for newborn coverage is 6 months. This means that you must wait at least 6 months from the start of a plan until you claim for any newborn infant related expenses.

Having a maternity plan that can provide newborn coverage can help assure any new parent that should anything happen, their child will be able to receive the highest levels of treatment available.

Other important information:

Maternity plans can be extremely flexible and provide you with a number of options in regards to a pregnancy. When obtaining a maternity plan it is important to look at your situation and the coverage options that will suit you best. Maternity plans are often attached to a standard international health insurance plan, so it is necessary to look at what other benefits you will receive outside of the maternity coverage. Some of the main areas of concern are:

• Deductible: This is what you will pay towards the cost of any treatment that you receive. In some cases it may be possible to obtain a plan with no deductible.
• Area of coverage: This is the geographic location that the plan will protect you in. There are usually two areas of cover, worldwide, and worldwide excluding North America.
• Renewal: International health insurance plans will allow you to renew for your entire life, while local health insurance plans will normally put an age limit on a policy’s renewability. It is important to consider how long you want your coverage to remain in place.
• Exclusions: Anything that the plan does not and will not cover.

In the modern world one of the biggest issues regarding maternity plans is the affect that fertility treatments will have on the coverage. Many maternity plans will allow you full coverage on a delivery following fertility treatments. It is important to note however, that many plans will not cover the initial treatment of infertility or sexual dysfunction. Additionally, many plans will enforce a waiting period on newborn coverage for children who are born as a product of medically assisted reproduction.

Fore more information visit Pacific Prime or call 3113 2112
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