The concept of waiting period in a health insurance policy is defined as the period of time specified which must pass before some or all of your health care coverage can begin. Hence, this is the period during which claim is not admitted. Different conditions and coverage have different waiting periods and have different rules for the same.
The most important types of waiting period in an individual or family health insurance policy would be:
Initial waiting period of 30 days to 90 days
Most health insurance companies have an initial waiting period of 30 days to 90 days so that any disease contracted within that period of time will not be paid for, except accident cases. This restriction has been put so that people do not take the health insurance policy after being diagnosed a serious disease.
Pre-existing Condition Exclusion Waiting Period
A pre-existing condition exclusion period is a type of waiting period that involves those who have a condition during the six months prior to signing up for health insurance. This type of waiting period means that your insurance coverage can be limited or excluded for any pre-existing condition. The length of this type of waiting period can vary from 12 to 48 months. Thus pre-existing conditions will only be covered under the plan after the passage of the timeframe mentioned.
Maternity waiting period OR Waiting Period for Pregnancy
Maternity benefits are paid by certain health insurance policies. However most of them have a waiting period of 9 months to 48 months. It just means that health insurance plan needs to be planned much ahead of planning your family so as to cover all the expenses involved in the same and it cannot be taken after conceiving
