Some important points to note about health insurance for a newborn

There is a trend among new parents to bank cord blood stem cells to protect the child and family from future diseases. However, many forget to get the newborn under a health insurance plan to cover medical expenses of the child. Though health insurance providers may not issue an individual policy to a newborn, it is a good idea to add the child to an existing group health cover of the parents or the family floater policy.

Age

Most health insurers allow addition of a child to the parent’s insurance cover once the child has completed 90 days. A few insurers also offer the facility of health cover from day one of birth under maternity benefit offered under group health policies. Such policies may cover initial vaccination or post-natal care.

Conditions

In case of cover from day 1, the insurance provider must be informed within a week of birth. The provider may prescribe the maximum cover applicable for children under the policy. If the provider offers cover after the baby is over 90 days, the addition can be made at the time of the annual policy renewal.

Documents

At the time of annual policy renewal, an application to add the child along with a copy of the child’s birth certificate, maternity discharge card and copies of documents related to medical history, if any, are required to be submitted to the insurance provider.

Premium

Once the documents are submitted, the health insurance provider will recalculate the premium after adding the child’s cover and convey the revised premium amount. On payment of the revised premium, the policy will be issued covering the child as well.


Points to note

- Family floater policies usually cover children till they are 21 years old.
- Insurance firms may allow individual cover for a child over 5 years.

- A photo may have to be submitted to the TPA for issue of cashless card.



The content is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL).