Maternity in India under-insured by corporates: Plum report

Press Release, Apr 13, 2022, 4:02 PM IST

Bengaluru: Plum, an employee health insurance platform, today launched its report – ‘Is maternity under-insured in India?’ The report states that maternity covers offered by corporates are not in alignment with the rising cost of maternity in urban cities in India.

The average cost of child birth (vaginal births) in tier 1 cities and metros in India at private hospitals ranges between Rs. 45,000 – Rs. 55,000. On the other hand, the cost of C-sections in private hospitals can range from Rs. 70,000 and 2,00,000, depending on the level of complications. However, while 66% of Plum’s customers have adopted maternity covers, a majority of them cover expenses up to Rs. 50,000 for up to 2 children. Only 15% of Plum’s customers, which are new-age companies, have taken covers between Rs. 1,00,000 and Rs. 1,25,000 for maternity. These companies include Twilio, Mintmesh, Evenflow, Vonage, Ironsides among others.

• Bangalore: Avg : 55,000
•  Chennai: Avg : 53,000
•  Mumbai: Avg : 45,000
• New Delhi:Avg : 51,000
• Hyderabad: Avg : 45,000

Through its report, Plum urges all organizations, to make workplaces more favorable for women employees by providing them with adequate insurance for maternity (important note: maternity is an optional benefit and many organizations do not opt for it due to employee demographics and cost). Standalone retail policies for maternity are non-existent in India. Additionally in retail health insurance, there is a 90-day waiting period from the time of the child-birth for the baby to get medical insurance coverage. Group Health Insurance (GHI) policies can cover female employees and female spouses for expenses on maternity treatment, infertility and any prenatal complications and offer a baby day cover from day 1.

According to Plum’s report, ideal maternity benefits should provide a minimum cover up to Rs. 1,00,000 for tier1 cities and should have baby day covers from the very first day. The report further suggests that for workplaces to be considered equitable, they must consider the inclusion of surrogacy and adoption leave policies and benefits, same-sex partner maternity and leave benefits and paternity leave and benefits.