This was discussed pretty recently in one of the mummy Facebook groups, so since it’s fresh in my mind, I’ll share my thoughts about it.
Insurance is a pretty common thing nowadays and with rising medical costs, it pays to be well protected. These days, there’s even protection for pregnant ladies and their unborn child. The coverage is mainly for pregnancy complications and congenital illnesses of the baby. At first I was wondering what’s so special about the coverage since I already have a private shield plan that will cover most hospitalisation cases. I took a look my policy and realised that the coverage for pregnancy complications is a lot less than what these other maternity plans cover. Also, you can get a private shield plan for your child pretty much as soon as he is born, but the insured must be in the plan for at least two years before the coverage for congenital illnesses can kick in. With the maternity plan, your child is covered right from the start.
Wow, that confounds things a little. So my hubby and I decided to check out the coverage of the maternity plan. It seems that in the event of a claim, it is only a one time pay out of either $5000 or $10000 (depending on which plan you opted for). For the financially able family like us, the amount is quite small compared to what the hospital bill will be in the event of a claim (depending on the severity of the complication), so we decided that it’s not quite worth it. Besides, I did contact my insurance agent and she said that if by about 20 weeks into the pregnancy and nothing’s wrong, it should be fine. Ok, I did take her words with a pinch of salt because who knows? But I did decide that since the more common pregnancy complications like eclampsia and pre-eclampsia are covered under my private shield plan, I shall just take the chance and forgo getting a maternity plan. This is just our opinion. I think it’s best for families to work out their finances before deciding whether to get the coverage or not.
With that decision, we thought the case was closed. Well, not quite…because my hubby then found out that no further underwriting is required for maternity plans with an investment-linked plan (ILP) attached to it. What that means is that if your child is diagnosed with a congenital illness, he will probably be barred from getting any insurance hence on. Yup, that’s the sad fact of life. Insurance coverage is only for the people born healthy. Life/Term insurance is a means of future savings for the child, but if he is unhealthy at birth then there will be no such thing for him. So, if you’ve already bought the maternity plan with ILP attached to it, your child will have some form of coverage no matter what happens.
We don’t quite believe in investment-linked plans but if it’s the only way of getting some savings plan plus coverage for our child in the event that he/she is struck with illness, then maybe it is worth looking into it. We talked to agents from Prudential and AIA and got the benefit tables. Went home and did our own calculations. Finally, we decided that it is really not worth it (as what we initially thought of ILPs). A lot of it goes to feed the agent, especially in the first three years. (Why else do you hear of agents entering the prestigious million-dollar club?) Again, this is our opinion. It is best to do your own calculations and make the decision for yourself.
Well, we’re not taking up a maternity plan after all, but for those who are interested, here are the insurance companies and their plans:
What you should note is that only Great Eastern offers pure insurance coverage. The rest (AIA, Prudential and AXA) offer maternity plans that have insurance coverage and an investment-linked plan attached to it. So if you’re not keen on an ILP, Great Eastern is probably the way to go.
It is also good to note that there are special insurance plans for down syndrome and autistic kids. As of now, I am only aware of NTUC Income offering such plans.
But of course, we all pray and hope that things will go smoothly.