Why does insurance of pregnancy only exist under group policy?

Q: I am interested in taking a pregnancy Mediclaim policy. I have gone through the net and the only information I am gathering is that insurance for pregnancy is not available for individuals. It only exist under group insurance. What do I do?

A:The reason why you want to take a medical insurance cover for pregnancy is obvious where in you are planning to have your expenses covered for a planned delivery in the near future. This incidentally is what the fear of insurance companies as well i.e. that individuals who expect to claim are more keen on taking a policy than others, technically sometimes also referred to as adverse selection. Thus no insurance company would like to provide a maternity cover. While in a group policy since the number of people covered is large, the risk is spread more evenly and widely therefore the probability of a claim is also reduced. Would recommend that you look for a group which offers a maternity cover and try to become a part of it, though finding such a group would undoubtedly be difficult since such groups are rarely open to retail individuals. Generally a group would be like an employer - employee group, credit card holders, bank customers etc.