Critical Illness vs Maternity Insurance: Which Should You Prioritize?

It now sounds cliched to say how health insurance plays an important role in your financial security during medical emergencies. It is time to get more specific about the policies that suit your particular needs. Need assessment helps you to pinpoint the benefits you require and also foresee your requirements in the near future. Two very prominent types of health insurance are critical illness and maternity insurance.

They both cover very different needs, and hence, it is critical to know which one to prioritise when. Based on certain key aspects like age, coverage requirement, stage of life, benefits and renewal facilities, one should be prioritised over the other.

Choose The Right Policy at the Right Time

Like any other policy, choosing maternity insurance or a critical illness policy requires an assessment of your financial status, health condition, lifestyle and the number of dependents in your family. It is, after all, an investment in your health for planned or unplanned events. The major difference between these two conditions is the preparedness that you may have to deal with them. Usually, pregnancy is planned ahead due to the extra lifelong expenses associated with it. Critical illness is primarily sudden and can upset your financial planning considerably. As you can see, the objectives of both these insurances vary a great deal, and one takes precedence over the othe,r depending on your life situation.

Have a look at the table, which will help you make an informed decision:

Factors	Maternity Insurance	Critical illness Insurance	When to Prioritise
Suitability	If you are planning to start a family, choose a maternity plan without a doubt.	If you are looking for financial support for life-threatening illnesses, this plan should be your choice	Depending on the life stage, one should prioritise which insurance to choose.
Coverage Need	Check if the insurance covers normal as well as caesarian delivery costs. The Plan should typically cover all medical expenses like doctor consultations, tests like ultrasound, and 30 days pre and 60 days post-hospitalisation expenses. Many maternity insurance cover pre and post-natal care including any neonatal congenital anomaly treatments and vaccinations.	Coverage includes almost 50 life-threatening diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, organ transplant, etc. Coverage should also be given towards treatment taken abroad. Even if you claim for any minor illnesses, you can continue to claim for major or critical illnesses as well. Many policies also cover loss of income due to the critical illness of the breadwinner of the family.	Assess the health history of your family and the possibility of experiencing such health problems. However, if you are planning to start a family soon, maternity insurance may take priority.
Age of the Policyholder	If you belong to the young couple category with ages between the late 20s and early 40s, maternity policies will seem mandatory as age premiums increase due to higher health risks.	These types of plans are an absolute must if you are over 30 and have a history of critical illness in your family. You can also opt for it earlier if you are not planning to have children	Maternity insurance seems logical at an early age as it is cost-effective, but again, if you fear a possibility of terminal illness, critical illness policies should take precedence.
Wait time	The time between your policy purchase and your first claim of benefits is the wait time period. For maternity insurance, it is usually 9 months to 4 years, depending on the insurance company. It may happen that group mediclaim policies of the employer have less or no wait time, which can be a good choice for working women.	In case of critical illness, this wait time is around 90 days, after which you can claim your benefits.	For maternity wait times, check if it aligns with your family planning calendar. For critical illness, it is best to invest in policy after a certain age when the propensity for health hazards rises.
Limits on Claims	Some providers put a ceiling on the number of maternity claims to 2 children. In case of exceptions like stillbirth or miscarriage also they may extend their coverage. In such situations, you can even claim beyond 2 deliveries.	For critical illnesses, a lump sum payout is done by the provider once you are diagnosed with any critical illness. However, in some policies, there might be a ceiling on certain disease coverage which needs to be assessed while choosing the policy.	Again, it depends on the criticality of your situation and your lifestyle. If you have a family history of critical illness like cancer or heart ailments, investing in a critical illness policy should be a priority. Again, if you are planning for children and you have age on your side, you may go for maternity insurance first and then illness coverage later.
Renewal Options	This has limited renewal options till childbearing age and also till a number of claims. Most providers offer benefits till 2 childbirths.	These plans are renewable until a certain age limit (60-75 years). Some good providers may have lifetime renewability plans. But you need to check for multiple claim plans, as if one payout happens the policy may not continue otherwise.	If your primary objective is to ensure fund availability for the treatment of a terminal illness, you can purchase a high-coverage critical illness plan and take maternity benefits as an add-on rider for support.
Add on Benefits	Some maternity plans have riders that can be availed with payment of extra premiums. With these riders, you can opt for pre-existing disease coverage and also for critical illness coverage. You may not have full coverage equal to a comprehensive critical policy, but you can utilise a portion of the sum assured if you absolutely need to.	Some insurers offer options to add coverage for pregnancy and complications at birth, especially if it is a comprehensive critical illness plan for women. A percentage of the sum assured can be claimed for such treatments.	These benefits are helpful when you require both policies at the same time. You may have to compromise on the coverage amount, but you have the assurance of financial support as and when required under both conditions.

Conclusion

These above pointers would surely push you to assess your family life critically before concluding to prioritise any one plan. Moreover, you also need to thoroughly check the details of the insurer and the policy that you choose under these two types of plans. It might seem a daunting task but lucky for you, you can make an appointment on the Paybima website and an expert advisor will be there to guide you through the process of choosing, checking and purchasing. He will gather quotations from insurers as per your affordability and help you get the right policy for you and your loved ones without any trial or error.

Author Bio

Paybima Team

Paybima is an Indian insurance aggregator on a mission to make insurance simple for people. Paybima is the Digital arm of the already established and trusted Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd., a reputed name in the insurance broking industry with 17 years of experience. Paybima promises you the easy-to-access online platform to buy insurance policies, and also extend their unrelented assistance with all your policy related queries and services.

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