Protection Quotient

Women should choose customised insurance covers for special needs and financial protection

- Nirmala Konjengbam

For Lucknow-based Priyanka Singh, June brought along a bundle of joy in her life. She became a proud mother. One look at the baby’s face was enough for her to let go of all the suffering of her painful labour.

With the pandemic, extra care was taken by the family, which meant additional costs. Priyanka was covered under a group health insurance policy from her work that failed to pay her maternity expenses. Thankfully, her husband’s policy did.

Priyanka is not a one-off case. Most women covered under such group health schemes fail to read the fine print and miss the obvious.

If one size does not fit all, go for tailor-made policies. These policies can take care of pregnancy and maternity as well as complications like uterine fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, breast cancer, and ovarian and cervical cancer.

When a woman wears a homemaker and breadwinner’s hats, her stress and anxiety levels are very high. Therefore, apart from wellness, the right healthcare policy is a must.

Women-specific insurance plans, like life insurance, including Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP), health or critical insurance policies, are formulated, keeping gender-specific health issues and requirements in mind.

Apart from health insurance and critical illness benefits, one must not forget the potential of these policies in securing one’s financial future. Investing in ULIP for the long term would enable one to make big savings that could be used to deal with any sort of future financial expenses.

Premium payments for these policies also help save taxes.