Chennai, 22 March 2022: At an event held today at Star Health and Allied Insurance, eminent doctors representing national bodies, discussed the challenges faced by women to meet health care expenses.
Under the newly launched Star Women Care Insurance Policy, mothers can avail themselves for the first time a host of women centric benefits catering to all age groups. This policy aims to be an all-inclusive cover for women at all stages of life.
The policy covers Assisted Reproduction treatment, Antenatal and delivery expenses, In-Utero fetal surgeries, hospitalization expenses for treatment of the new-born, cover for congenital defects and even miscarriage and vaccination expenses. The policy also offers cover for metabolic screening, pediatrician/ medical consultations, voluntary sterilization and preventive health check-up
Speaking at the event, Dr. S Prakash, Managing Director of Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd., observed that today, there is no insurance cover available for a baby from day 1. Generally it is healthy babies who get insurance cover after a certain waiting period. There is a need to address this gap as a lot of new born babies and pregnant women are at a disadvantage due to financial constraints. Hence we have consulted leading experts to understand the health needs of women, pregnant women in particular, fetal health and newborn and designed this policy that would meet their needs. The policy also covers areas which have not be embarked upon by Insurance so far.
Dr. Suresh Seshadri, Director, MEDISCAN Systems, Chennai said “This is a fulfillment of my 20 year old dream. Babies that have health issues like cardiac problems, Twin to Twin transfusion syndrome or other medical conditions can lead a healthy normal life if they are treated on time. These fetal surgeries form the determining factor between life and death for these babies. These procedures are often expensive and hence many mothers opt to abort the pregnancy than save the newborn. Insurance cover for such procedures is the need of the hour for women.”
With breakthroughs in fetal surgery, some of these conditions can be treated during pregnancy when the baby is in the mother’s womb and such new covers are a real boon to these families.
Prof. Dr. S. Sampathkumari, Vice President elect – Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India was very pleased to note that STAR has empowered women with a customized Health Insurance cover especially on women’s day. Coverage for latest technologies like Assisted Reproduction is a game changer she said. Often, women assume that pregnancy is mostly a smooth journey. But in today’s modern world, many lifestyle diseases such as Diabetes, Hypertension, etc. lead to complication at the time of delivery. The new policy from Star Health provides cover to treat such Neo-natal/ pregnancy complications. “One of the wonderful features is the cover for assisted reproduction. Now a days we see incidences of infertility on the rise. This policy truly empowers women and gives them back the choice of motherhood. No women should be deprived of this due to financial constrains”, said Prof Dr. S Sampathkumari
Prof. Dr. Ramesh Babu S, Honorary Secretary TN Chapter of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons welcomed the move to cover both congenital internal and external defects for newborn from day 1. He said it is a paradigm shift in health insurance and is likely to save at least 1 lakh middle class families from falling in to poverty every year due to the birth of a baby with a congenital anomaly. He also emphasized that healthy women should opt to take the policy which will protect them and enhance the penetration of Insurance in India.
Dr. S Prakash added, “At Star Health, we aim to provide women with a customized policy that provides adequate insurance cover for all their health-related needs at every stage of their life. Expectant mothers can now have access to all treatments without worrying about the financial costs due to insurance. With increased insurance penetration, we believe we can reduce the financial impact of congenital birth defects on young parents and make access to superior medical care, a reality for many women. A policy of this kind, apart for paying for the health care expenses will also help in reducing the Maternal Mortality Rate and Infant Mortality Rate. Star Health insurance is very proud to offer this product for our country.”
