Maternity Insurance Coverage for Expats – Global Health Plans That Cover Pregnancy
Learn about global health insurance that covers maternity for expatriates living abroad
Many expatriates and future global nomads plan to have children when moving abroad. Everyone knows that pregnancy can involve a lot of preparations and planning – one of the most important considerations is accessing maternity care when living abroad and the insurance to fund those expenses. Maternity expenses can either be reasonably small – say under $10,000 if you are in a country where medical expenses are small.
They can also be in the hundreds of thousands or even a million dollars depending on your pregnancy and any potential complications during or after birth. As the anxiety about parenthood increases, you don’t want to worry about the expected and unexpected medical expenses. In this article, we will discuss maternity insurance coverage for expats.
What Does Maternity Cover Usually Include for Expats?
Generally speaking, many global health insurance plans with maternity coverage offer open access for women to pre-pregnancy planning and maternity regular testing services. Many expat health plans will offer three levels of coverage – with the more basic option excluding pregnancy care while more expensive levels offering vary degrees of pregnancy care.
They usually provide coverage for a certain period of hospitalization following a regular or cesarean delivery. Global health plans with maternity coverage will offer:
- Hospitalization Expenses: covers costs for admission and room charges. There are some health insurance plans which include emergency ambulance charges.
- Pre & Post Hospitalization: Covers costs related to pre & post-hospitalization.
- Delivery cover: Includes both normal & cesarean coverage, as well as post-delivery complications for mother.
- New Born Baby Cover: Maternity insurance coverage also includes an extension to newborn baby care. A good global health plan will cover the child without any medical questions from birth.
Why obtain pregnancy coverage when buying global healthcare?
The obvious answer is because you plan to become pregnant and have a child when abroad. However, a great many pregnancies are unplanned and you should keep this in mind and get a global health policy that includes maternity coverage just in case. We will learn more about why below.
Pregnancy Costs for Expatriates Living Abroad
Since medical expenses for each pregnancy is more and more expensive in many countries around the world, expatriates opt to obtain maternity insurance to cover medical costs during pregnancy. Most expatriates prefer local private healthcare system for their pregnancy – not only because they provide English speaking healthcare staff and doctors – but most private hospitals will provide a better therapeutic environment with comfortable hospital private rooms.
However, these private medical facilities are usually costly, especially for non – residents. In Singapore, according to some reports, standard delivery will cost between $10,000 and $14,000 US dollars, $12,500, and $16,000 if cesarean. In Hong Kong, though private maternity medical costs may differ from hospital to hospital, it is not surprising to see a delivery that ends up costing upwards of $22,000 US dollars.
When To Enrol In An International Health Insurance Plan To Cover Maternity?
If you are an expatriate and already pregnant, it is our experience that no individual expat health insurance plan will cover an existing pregnancy. Therefore, if you are planning to live abroad or are already an expatriate with plans to give birth in the future, you must obtain an international health insurance plan with maternity coverage as early as possible.
Insurers will not accept your application for maternity insurance if you are already pregnant. Generally speaking, individual international health insurance plans will have maternity cover after a waiting period of 12 months. In contrast, most group international health insurance plans offer maternity benefits with no waiting period. Please note that this may vary between insurers.
Therefore, it is ideal that you apply for international health coverage that includes maternity care for at least 12 months before you are planning to have a baby overseas. It may possible to change or update your international health insurance plans at renewal, but any changes will require medical underwriting and the new plan will still have a 12 month waiting period for pregnancy-related care. It is strongly recommended to plan to ensure you are protected during pregnancy.
Get Expatriate International Health Insurance And Obtain Maternity Insurance Quote Online
Expat Financial offers several different international health insurance plans for expats around most parts of the world. We can help you with choosing the right plan for your budget that may include maternity coverage. We also offer excellent service before and after you purchase your international health insurance plan. The best plan we offer with excellent maternity care for ex-pats is the Cigna Global Health Options plan, but make sure you get the Gold or Platinum level.