There are various kinds of waiting periods present in every health insurance policy. Let’s have a look at what they imply, what the industry average is, and what is Digit’s Health Insurance waiting periods in context to them all.
1. Initial Waiting Period
An initial waiting period, also known as the cooling period in health insurance, refers to the amount of time you’ll have to wait from the date of issue to actively start using your health insurance policy and benefiting from it.Today, the industry standard for initial waiting periods is up to 30 days for all health insurance policies.
2. Pre-Existing Diseases Waiting Period (PED)
Typically, when you buy a health insurance policy, you will be asked about pre-existing diseases and/or will also be asked to take a few medical tests that may reveal the same.
According to the IRDAI, a pre-existing disease refers to any condition, ailment, injury, or disease that was diagnosed up to 36 months before buying a health insurance policy.
Some examples of pre-existing diseases include diabetes, hypertension, thyroid, etc. Therefore, if you do have a pre-existing disease, you will have to wait for the prescribed waiting period before you can claim any hospitalisation or treatment that is related to the disease.
Usually, the waiting period for pre-existing diseases health insurance is 1 to 3 years, depending on your health insurer and the type of health insurance plan chosen.
3. Waiting Period for Specific Diseases & Surgery
The title is perhaps self-explanatory, i.e., waiting periods for specific diseases and surgeries imply that you will need to wait for the prescribed amount of time when it comes to claiming treatment and hospitalization related to a list of specific diseases and surgeries.
Generally, the waiting period for these situations is 1 to 3 years.
Here’s the list of diseases: