As a woman, you may have many roles – a mother, sister, daughter, employee, businesswoman and so on. When life gets busy, it’s important to keep your health in check. Besides taking care of yourself by having a well-balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, it is worthwhile to get a female-specific health insurance plan to protect you. That way, you can live a full life with peace of mind.

What is women-specific insurance?
Women-specific policies are designed to cover specific female healthcare needs that standard health insurance plans may not provide. For example, female-related illnesses, maternity care, newborn baby coverage, and more.

There are many benefits in these ladies-only health plans to ensure women have something to fall back on during a medical emergency, such as a sudden accident or illness. This provides financial independence and stability at the same time. Fortunately, a wide variety of specialised health coverages for women is available in Malaysia. Let’s take a look at the benefits and what different policies have to offer.

Protection from female diseases
General insurance may not cover certain critical illnesses that affect women, such as breast cancer, ovarian or cervical cancer. Subscribing to a specialised health policy for women can help offset the financial risks should these illnesses occur.

Taking PRULady from Prudential as an example, the policy offers coverage for a broad range of female-related illnesses, including female cancer (breast, cervix uteri, fallopian tube, ovary, uterus, or vagina/vulva) and systemic lupus erythematosus with severe kidney complications, as well as age-related conditions such as osteoporotic fracture and rheumatoid arthritis. Additionally, there is a coverage restoration feature for female carcinoma-in-situ, which means the reduced amount of cover will be restored after six months from the diagnosis date of female carcinoma-in-situ.

Protection for mother and baby
If having children is in your life plan, it’s ideal to have some form of financial support for your pregnancy and childcare needs. PRULady covers all mothers-to-be against pregnancy complications and their children against congenital illnesses such as spina bifida, cleft lip, ventricular septal defects, and others. The coverage also accounts for unfortunate conditions resulting in the loss of a child, including disseminated intravascular coagulation (after seven 7 months of pregnancy); ectopic pregnancy, eclampsia, late miscarriages after the 18th week, and death of a foetus or an infant after 30 days of birth.

Infertility
For those who can no longer get pregnant due to accidents that cause injury to their reproductive organs (ovaries and/or womb), policies like PersonaLady policy from Etiqa and Lady Protector from Great Eastern offer compassionate cash compensations to assist them during this difficult time.

Female wellness
Major illnesses aside, there are times in a women life when they require treatments or therapies for other medical complications. For instance, under AIA’s A-Life Lady plan, their extensive female care benefits provide a one-off payment for medical complications arising from elective cosmetic surgery, hormone replacement therapy for menopause, and psychotherapy treatment for anxiety or depression disorders.

Reconstructive benefits
Due to illness or accidents, reconstructive surgery is crucial, but not many women can afford it should they need it all of a sudden. Most women-specific insurances also include reconstructive benefits. For example, PRULady covers facial reconstructive surgery due to cancer or accident; skin grafting due to burns or skin cancer, breast lumpectomy, breast reconstructive surgery, or surgical removal of female reproductive organs due to carcinoma-in-situ, cancer or accident.

Another policy, PRemierLady Savers from Etiqa, also offers facial reconstructive surgery or dental treatment due to an accident. Women who need to undergo corrective surgery to the head, face or neck or treatment of injury or damage to teeth can benefit from this plan.

Other benefits
Along with medical coverage, some women policies like PRULady life insurance also includes a wide range of benefits other than healthcare, including buying a property, retirement or death of a spouse, while A-Life Lady covers health screenings. Additionally, the LadyProtector policy helps with the legal cost and expenses incurred for instituting legal proceedings of sexual harassment cases.

If you are unsure whether you should get a standard or specialised women-specific policy, think about your needs and talk to a professional insurance provider. Research different plans and see which ones suit you and your life goals the best.