Maternity healthcare as an expat

Having taken the huge step in life to relocate to a new country, it’s important to secure peace of mind in as many aspects of your new life as possible; and ensuring you have good medical cover is a must. Needless to say – expats planning to start a family find themselves against a much bigger challenge.

The life changing decision of having a baby is never one to be taken lightly, and if you are living outside your home country, the repercussions – and the costs – can very easily turn this into a greater deal.

What to consider when getting expat maternity cover

When expecting a baby, it’s fundamental to have a health cover in place to secure your peace of mind and ensure that both mother and baby will have access to quality medical care, wherever you are in the world. Depending on where you live and your residence situation, the maternity aspects of local healthcare can prove to be very expensive.

A maternity insurance plan usually covers costs for prenatal and postnatal check-ups, complications during pregnancy and delivery, childbirth and newborn care – but as with everything, there are some key differences in coverage for each factor, so you should make sure you take all aspects into consideration.

Choosing the right maternity cover can be complicated but we’re here to help you to understand what to consider in order to choose the best maternity healthcare policy:

• Reading the fine print

Many expats all over the world choose a health insurance policy to cover for maternity costs, but before making the investment, it is important to read the detail of the policy.

Planning in advance is key - most insurance companies will not accept your application if you are already pregnant; as this is treated as a pre-existing condition. Furthermore, insurers usually impose a moratorium of typically 12 months – and up to 24 – from the start date of your policy, to ensure claims are only valid after this period has passed.

• Understanding the limits to the policy

Keep in mind that, because of the risks of complications during pregnancy and delivery, many international health plans include an age limit in their policies for maternity coverage.

Also, not all insurers cover congenital conditions, or do so to a limited extent. Every person expecting wants to have a healthy baby – but in the unfortunate case when something goes wrong, it’s vital to make sure the baby will receive the best medical care available.

Other restrictions in a policy can be related to complications during pregnancy or delivery, where medical expenses can be classified by the insurer as either outpatient or maternity coverage. Newborn care should also be looked into when purchasing a policy – some plans state the newborn cover only for a few days from the day of delivery.

• Childbirth costs

The costs related to childbirth are the basis for every maternity cover, and they usually involve fees for obstetricians and midwives, hospital charges and postnatal care.

Maternity cover with Cigna Global

We know how stressful it can be for expat mothers to give birth abroad, and we help expectant mothers all around the world to secure their peace of mind with plans tailored to their needs.

Our Gold and Platinum level products come with routine maternity cover to the value of $7,000 and $14,000 respectively. All our policies provide coverage for congenital conditions and newborn care, with the last of which providing up to $156,000 of care for Platinum level policyholders.

Maternity healthcare has improved so much in recent years that the health of the mother is likely to be less of a concern than that of the baby. Long-term complications for either mother or child are generally provided for by most health insurance policies, including our own Gold and Platinum cover.

One of the benefits of choosing a health policy with us is that your cover policy benefits and level of service will remain much the same, regardless of where you are in the world. Although expat health insurance policies are generally priced specific to the country where the expat is moving to, the convenience of having a premium level of maternity care already taken care of, both logistically and financially, can be a huge relief for expats looking to start a family.

Discover more about Cigna International Health Plans