About Pregnancy Disability Insurance
Pregnancy is one of the most critical phases in a woman's life and can result into a number of complications. Even a woman who is generally healthy throughout this time can experience moments when she has to miss work for a certain period of time. In case of complications, this duration of absence can be even longer. Unfortunately, even a decade and a half back, in most parts of the world, maternity leave policies were solely in the hands of employers which often resulted in loss of job or designation of the woman when she intended to return. However, the emergence of pregnancy disability policy has changed all that and pregnant women can enjoy the benefits of disability insurance and give due priority to their children and family before reporting back to work.
There are several benefits of pregnancy disability income. Let us explore the key advantages.
Prevention of income loss - Ideally the objective of a pregnancy disability insurance cover is to support and prevent the income loss which the woman suffers as a result of her physical condition. For a number of women, this becomes the only source of income to survive during this period of time. For others, this is a bonus if they are already entitled to certain paid maternity leave as per the standard maternity leave policy in most countries.
A strong financial support - Normally, it is seen that the standard leave policy in case of pregnancy in most companies is 12 weeks. These stringent norms leave many pregnant women without any protection of maternity leave. This is especially true in case of privately-owned smaller companies. For them, this type of insurance comes as a blessing to support herself and/or her family. Generally, she can avail 60-70% of her income every month from the insurance policy cover.
Helps during critical conditions - As said earlier, there is a stipulated time period for availing standard maternity leave. However, by availing the pregnancy disability insurance, the would-be mother can extend the leave for a longer period of time in case she is suffering from a genuine critical medical condition during or after pregnancy. The time period for availing this cover is usually for 3-6 months before and after her delivery. All that she has to do is produce a certificate from the physician stating the purpose.
Some essential tips
As pregnancy involves a lot of expenses, from multiple visits to the doctor, to nursing home costs and paying of medical bills, you need to ensure that you get all the benefits that you are entitled to. For that you need to follow certain ground rules.
- Find out and discuss about your policy with the employer immediately after you get pregnant. Ask him the duration of the benefits and other details.
- Be very meticulous about the documentation required by your employer and the insurance company. You should talk to your doctor and give updates with your doctor's signature, so as to ensure your benefits are not denied.
- Never take advantage of the policy. Report back to work if all is well, because you can save your benefits for later purpose.