Check maternity insurance before pregnancy; an insured employee's nonworking spouse may qualify for childbirth medical benefits
Where an employer has paid maternity insurance, eligible childbirth medical costs and maternity allowances are covered under the scheme. A nonworking spouse may also receive childbirth medical benefits. Check qualifying contribution periods and any registration needed for delivery outside your insurance area in advance; some requirements cannot be fixed retroactively.
What it takes
Nothing. Call the Chinese social insurance or health insurance advice service.
What you may gain
Article 54 of China's Social Insurance Law gives maternity insurance benefits to employees whose employers have paid contributions. Nonworking spouses qualify for childbirth medical expense benefits according to national rules, funded by maternity insurance. Benefits have two components: medical costs associated with childbirth and the maternity allowance paid during qualifying leave. Article 56 lists maternity leave following childbirth, leave for family-planning surgery, and other legally specified circumstances as allowance-eligible. The allowance is calculated using the employer's average monthly employee wage in the previous year, rather than simply the individual's own salary.
Context & considerations
Ask about two local rules early: any minimum continuous contribution period and whether delivery away from the insurance area needs prior registration. Without the relevant registration, you may have to advance costs and seek manual reimbursement later, or some costs may not be reimbursed. The original describes minimum-month requirements categorically; verify the current rule where you are insured. For leave duration and allowance calculations, see chapter 18, entry 2.
Research & references
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (2010). Social Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China, Articles 54 and 56, republished by the Guangdong Provincial Tax Service. https://guangdong.chinatax.gov.cn/gdsw/qysw_gkwj/2020-02/12/content_8e8c485d0db34b989531f3ba57cec5a9.shtml