When you buy a private medical insurance policy in the UK, there are a whole host of insurers to choose from. You should be aware that the majority of UK policies do not cover for routine pregnancy or childbirth without complications.
Private medical insurance in the UK is for the treatment of acute medical conditions. Natural and routine pregnancy and childbirth is not classed as an illness.
If private medical insurance cover for pregnancy, infertility, maternity or childbirth is important to you there are options. You may need to look at your cover a little differently and buy an international health insurance policy instead.
Do any private medical insurance policies cover routine pregnancy?
The answer to this is yes, some international insurance policies give you the option to include maternity and childbirth. Some providers even offer cover for infertility treatment, pregnancy yoga or Pilates and post-natal counselling.
We refer to these policies as “International” however, some insurers will allow UK nationals to have a policy. This applies even if you are not intending to use the cover abroad.
The downside to opting for an international private medical insurance policy is cost. An international private medical insurance policy is certainly going to be higher than a domestic UK policy. Especially true if you include cover for routine pregnancy and childbirth.
You need to check the terms and conditions of the policy you intend to buy. They almost certainly will have a waiting period on claims of this type. This is a time period that you need to be insured before claiming for a pregnancy related benefit.
Cover for pregnancy complications
Although normal/ routine childbirth is not generally covered on UK policies, it is worth checking to see what cover would be in place if you experience complications of pregnancy.
Conditions such as ectopic pregnancy, postpartum haemorrhage or stillbirth may be covered. Some women develop diabetes during pregnancy and this may could be covered as a complication of pregnancy. If diabetes is a pre-existing condition and excluded from cover, it may not be covered.
Each insurer has specific rules relating to cover for complications of pregnancy. It is worth being absolutely sure what they are before you purchase a policy.
Childbirth Cash Benefit
If you have private medical insurance in place when you have a baby, your cover could pay a “baby bonus” cash amount. This is usually £100 for the birth of each child or in a legal adoption scenario. If you have an excess on your policy this would not be taken from a child birth cash benefit. You may have had to be insured for a specific time period (i.e. 10 months) before being able to claim for it.
Would you like to find out about health insurance cover with maternity and childbirth options? The team at SMP Healthcare will be happy to help you
Please contact us by telephone on 01245 929129 or by email lianne@smphealthcare.com