Waiting Period For Health Insurance

Waiting Period For Health Insurance

Regular health checkups and preventive treatments are covered under a few basic health insurance plans offered in the market. Therefore, it is wise to buy health insurance at an early stage in life.

But before you purchase a health plan for yourself or your family members, you must be aware of its waiting period. Don’t know what waiting period is? Read on to know everything about health insurance waiting period.

What Is Waiting Period?

The waiting period is a specific time before selective pre-existing diseases are covered under your health plan. Usually, the waiting period in health insurance is four years for most pre-existing ailment and is standard across all health policies. This comes in handy for you (the policyholder) as your insurer cannot reject claims after the 4-year waiting period is over.

Types of Waiting Period

There are five types of waiting period.

• The Pre-Existing Diseases (PED) Waiting Period

When seeking health insurance, you have to inform the insurer regarding any pre-existing illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid, etc. To ensure the same, the insurance company will ask you to take a few medical tests. These tests will determine the level of impact of the diseases on you. Based on the medical reports, your insurer will then decide whether or not to grant you a Mediclaim policy.

If they agree, there will be a waiting period mentioned in your health plan, which is usually four years. This means any medical expenses related to the pre-existing diseases stated in your plan can be claimed after the waiting period is over.

• One/Two Years For Particular Ailments

Certain diseases like ENT disorders, hernia, osteoporosis, etc. tend to generally have a waiting period of one to two years in health insurance plans.

• One Month

If you are buying health insurance early in life, then the standard health plan will have a waiting period of one month except in case of accidental scenarios.

• 90 Days For Infants

Waiting period for newborn babies or infants is about 90 days.

• 9 to 36 Months

A few health insurance plans also offer maternity benefits. However, the waiting period for the same can range anywhere between 9 to 36 months.

How to Reduce the Waiting Period?

Most insurance companies allow you to reduce the waiting period if you pay an extra premium. On the other hand, for group health plans offered by employers, there is no waiting period imposed on it by the insurance company.

According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) regulations, employees who are covered under a group health insurance plan offered by their employers can convert the policy into an individual health plan when leaving the company. This individual health policy is given without a waiting period as the waiting time is usually spent in the group health cover provided to them by their company.

Buy Health Insurance Online

Thanks to the internet, we have everything available at a click of a button. You no longer have to visit the insurance company to buy insurance plans. You can buy a cashless health insurance policy online through the official websites of the providers. Before purchasing any plan, you can compare the different programs available and choose the one with suitable premiums and benefits.

Health Insurance Calculator

Calculating insurance premiums can be a confusing and tedious task. To make it easier and less time-consuming, insurance providers have provided with online health insurance calculator. You can use this calculator to compute your premiums to be paid monthly. This helps you not only to plan your finances but also to understand your health plan more.

A Final Thought

Let’s face it; health emergencies can arise anytime and anywhere. You cannot buy health insurance and make a claim on it immediately a week after, especially for pre-existing diseases. You have to go through the 4-year waiting period to make a successful claim. Hence, it advisable to seek medical insurance early in life. Also, if you are buying health insurance now, check the waiting period before you make the purchase.

Buying the right health plan is vital. To make this simple, get in touch with us at Finserv MARKETS. With Bajaj Allianz health insurance plans available on Finserv MARKETS can benefit from features like swift claim settlement, reinstatement benefits, bespoke insurance plans, extensive coverage, and so much more.

So, why wait? Get yourself insured with us today.

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