With health issues arising anytime, anywhere, it’s important to secure health insurance as early as possible. However, be cautious of the waiting period in health insurance before purchasing a health insurance plan. When you sign up for health insurance, it is necessary to understand the waiting period policy. Waiting period is the time you need to wait before your health insurance coverage starts.
A waiting period is the time period during which you cannot claim your group health insurance benefits. Once you pay your premium and receive your policy documents, your group health insurance comes into effect. However, the coverage doesn’t begin. Think of it as booking a cab; it takes a while to arrive. Similarly, with group health insurance, once you buy a health insurance policy from any health insurance company, you need to wait for a while before the coverage kicks in.
Health insurance plans have waiting periods to obtain a sense of the person's health and to ensure that he or she is in excellent health and not on any medications. This is in place to ensure that you receive your compensation in full and should not be used to deny claims.
Health insurance companies need to analyze your claims history, as well as your overall health condition, before they offer you a policy. The waiting period is the time spent between applying for a health insurance policy and being approved.
Also known as the cooling period, it’s the amount of time you need to wait from the date of purchase until you can make any claim. Although the time varies from insurer to insurer, the standard waiting period for health insurance is minimum of 30 days to 90 days.
A pre-existing disease is any disease, injury, ailment, or condition that’s been in existence for about 48 months before you purchase the policy. Usually, it’s diseases like thyroid, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. So, if you have any pre-existing disease that falls under this umbrella, you will have to wait for a specific period before you make any claims related to medical expenses or hospitalization for that ailment.
Different diseases like osteoporosis, hernia, ENT disorder, tumor, etc. come with a specific waiting period for claiming for treatment and hospitalization, which ranges from one to two years, depending on the ailment. The waiting period and the ailments vary from insurer to insurer, so it’s important to discuss with the insurer or read the details of the policy carefully.
4. Maternity and newborn:
The maternity and newborn baby benefit assists with the expenses that arise during and post-labor. However, the group health insurance waiting period for the maternity cover ranges from nine months to four years.
It’s nearly impossible to get group health insurance without a waiting period. You can get short-term insurance that kicks in until your coverage starts, or a few insurers may cut wait time by charging more premiums. But group health insurance is one of the greatest options for your company.
As you’re aware, individual health insurance comes with different waiting period clauses about maternity benefits, pre-existing diseases, etc. So, even if you have insurance, you cannot make a claim until the completion of the waiting period for those diseases.
Here’s where group insurance mitigates such limitations and offers one of the greatest advantages - waiving the waiting period. So, albeit any pre-existing conditions, maternity benefits, specific diseases, by paying a nominal amount as extra premium, you can waive off the waiting period.
