Congenital Defects

Congenital Defects – What are they and will my international maternity insurance cover them?

In simple terms, congenital birth defects are problems that a baby is born with. They can be covered by an international maternity insurance plan but may be subject to a waiting period.

The estimated incidences for the leading categories of birth defects are provided below, but not all will be covered by all international maternity insurance plans.

Birth defects are grouped into three major categories:

structural/metabolic
congenital infections; and
other conditions.

Birth defects of the heart and circulatory system affect more infants than any other type of birth defect. Of all infants born each year, approximately 1 in 115 has heart and/or circulatory defects. It is therefore vitally important to know what is and what isn’t covered by your international maternity insurance.

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Recent Questions/Comments:

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2008-01-07 22:52:58

Hi, My mom will be coming from north africa to visit me in the USA and stay for acouple of weeks. Recently she has been having a heavy hand and legs feeling. She has been prescribed a medication that is usualy prescribed for patients with mild parkinson's. I would like to get some second opinion and test(scans) performed on her in the USA. I don't think that she has parkinson's and I would like to confirn this in a center/hospital that I trust. My mom has an inssurance coverage with mutuelle Maroc,which is a partner with SwissLife and AXA. I wonder if she can get an international coverage with your company that will covers specialist evaluation, MRI, and oether scans if necessary. Thank you

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2007-12-19 00:42:05

Hi, We (Doanldson Europe BVBA in Belgium) are looking for a hosptal & medical insurance for one of our families (family van den Enden) we are relocating to Brockville, Canada. Up till now we haven't found an insurance compay willing to cover the pre-existing condition of Mrs. van den Enden which is bronchial asthma. Would you be able to offer us a solution with an insurance who is willing to cover also the pre-existing condition. Thanks in advance for your reply, Veerle Matthijs

Questions and Comments about this Page:

Doreen:

2007-08-09 09:21:41

Question: My brother and his wife are expecting a baby in December. She is on a post-doc assignment in Sydney. Their baby has been diagnosed with a fairly congenital heart condition. He will need a corrective procedure upon his birth. Their ex-pat insurance does not cover the costs that will be associated with in-patient care for this procedure. What advice might you have on getting supplemental insurance for his post-natal care?

Answer: We can offer international health insurance policies all over the world that will provide you with a high level of protection against all unforeseen circumstances. We can offer international health insurance plans with a maternity benefit that will provide coverage for your child in the event that the infant is born with any medical conditions. It is important to note however that both the maternity and newborn child coverage benefits that we can offer will always be attached to a waiting period. In the case of a newborn coverage benefit the shortest waiting period that we can offer is 6 months from the start of the plan. This means that only if the child is born after you have been on a plan for 6 months will you be able to claim for any congenital birth defects or medical conditions.

Edited: 2007-08-09 20:17:12