Top Health Insurance Plans with Regard to the Waiting Period!

Health insurance plans are a necessity in current times, owing to the elevated levels of stress, competition, pollution, and other such negative factors. However, to avail the benefits of health insurance, it is essential to choose the insurance policies that adequately fit one’s requirements. Without careful selection, a randomly selected plan would fail to match your health care demands and will additionally be a sordid waste of hard-earned money.

For instance, for a person with a pre-existing ailment, the waiting period clause becomes critical for him or her. In addition to this, the element of waiting period also restricts an individual from getting the coverage for specific illnesses and conditions for a certain period. It is therefore imperative to choose a plan without a waiting period or at least a shorter one, especially if the insured is already suffering from an illness. The good news is that there are some top insurers offering health policies with shorter or no waiting periods, as enlisted below:

What is the Waiting Period?

The duration for which the policyholder needs to wait before the illness that is listed under the insurance plan is covered is known as waiting period. The insurance company will not provide claim settlement to the policyholder that you are making during this time period. Most of the insurance companies have waiting periods for a few years for health insurance plans that provide coverage for pre-existing conditions. These pre-existing conditions are the diseases that you have been suffering from when you were purchasing the health insurance plan.

Types of Waiting Period

There are basically three types of waiting period:

• Initial Waiting Period

In case, the policyholder gets sick or requires immediate hospitalisation during the initial period, the insurer will not offer any benefit under the health plan. Only the hospitalisation and medical expenses that are incurred because of accidental injuries during this time are covered by the insurance company.

• Disease-specific Waiting Period

Medical expenses or hospitalisation arising because of pre-specified conditions are not provided cover under a health plan. Generally, the insurer will give you a list of such ailments or conditions that are not provided coverage under the policy till the specified waiting period expires.

• Pre-existing Conditions Waiting Period

In case you are suffering from any healthcare condition before or during the time of purchasing the health insurance policy, treatment expenditure arising from it shall not be covered. This time duration may vary from a few months to years depending upon the type and seriousness of the pre-existing conditions.

Health Insurance Plans with Shorter Waiting Period

Health insurance policies with shorter waiting period are mentioned below:

Max Bupa Health Companion Policy

The plan is designed in a way to ensure usefulness for all - an individual, or a couple, or a family. The variants of the policy offer the sum insured amount to the policyholders ranging from Rs.3 lakh to Rs.1crore. The waiting period applicable under the plan provides coverage for some specific illnesses or procedures only after 24 months. Some of them are a cataract, Myomectomy, Hysterectomy, and more. Additionally, for pre-existing diseases, the policy entertains the claim after a period of 36 months or 48 months depending upon the variant opted.

Salient Features:

1. 3500+ network hospitals offering cashless treatment

2. Selecting a plan with 2-year duration can get you a discount of up to 12.5% on the renewal premium of the second year

3. Minimum entry age in the plan is 91 days, while there is no maximum age

4. The plan covers all the daycare procedures in every variant

5. As per the variant, a health check-up is allowed once a year or once every two years

Apollo Munich Optima Restore Health

The Optima Restore Health plan is a new age policy to safeguard your family at the time of medical emergency. Since the plan is for families, it has a feature of the restoration that activates when the full amount of SI is exhausted by the insured members. The waiting period is 2 years for specified surgeries, pre-existing ailments, and other exclusions. However, under this plan, the waiting period can be decreased by a year through regular renewals.

Salient Features:

1. Insurance coverage available from the age of 91 days to 65 years

2. A discount of 7.5% is available on purchasing a policy of two-year tenure

3. Pre and post hospitalization costs are covered for 60 and 180 days, respectively.

4. The policy comes with no sub-limit and no co-payment clause

5. Organ donor’s expenses are covered during organ transplantation

ICICI Lombard Complete Health Insurance

This health insurance policy is one of the best insurance plans as it renders benefits to the complete family. Under the plan, all the pre-existing plans are covered with a waiting period of 2 years. By offering maternity coverage, the plan proves comprehensive enough to cover all members. Under the plan, specific daycare procedures are included, making it a complete package.

Salient Features:

1. Medical costs incurred, 30 days pre-hospitalization and 60 days post-hospitalization, are covered.

2. Expenses for the treatments through Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Yoga, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, etc., are reimbursed if carried out at selected centers/hospitals

3. Free of cost health check-ups are offered once in a year for individual and twice for floater plan members

4. The amount of sum insured can be reset once a year by up to 100%

5. Expenses subject to nursing at home are offered with Rs.3000 every day up to 15 days post hospitalization

Royal Sundaram Lifeline Supreme Floater Plan                

The plan offers comprehensive coverage to policyholders, comprising of health care advantages, annual health check-up, an alternative or second opinion in the case of a critical ailment, and more. The policy is available for an individual as well as floater basis and offers a sum insured amount from Rs.5 lakh to Rs.50 lakhs. The health insurance plan is equipped with a 3 year waiting period clause to cover pre-existing diseases, while there is a 2 year waiting period for specific illnesses and surgeries.

Salient Features

1. All daycare treatments and procedures are covered up to the SI amount

2. Pre and post hospitalization expenses are covered for 60 days and 90 days respectively

3. No Claim Bonus (NCB) begins from 20% of the sum insured and up to a maximum of 100% of SI

4. Option for the second opinion is available related to diagnosis and treatment of some critical ailments

5. Domiciliary hospitalization and organ donor’s treatment is covered up the sum insured (SI) amount

Bajaj Allianz Health Guard

This is a comprehensive plan that covers the medical expenses incurred at the time of hospitalization due to an accident or illness. The policy also provides the advantages of lifetime renewability and tax reductions on the amount of the premium paid. Under the plan, specific diseases and few listed conditions are covered with a waiting period of 2 years. On the other hand, pre-existing conditions are covered with a waiting period of 4 years from the date of entry in the plan.

Salient Features:

1. Around 130-daycare treatments and procedures are covered

2. Pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization costs are covered for 60 days and 90 days respectively

3. One free of cost health check-up is offered for every claim-free year

4. Emergency ambulance costs are covered up to Rs.1000 per hospitalization

5. Daily Cash Benefit of Rs.500 is provided each day, up to maximum 10 days during a policy year

Also Read

Top Health Insurance Plans For Senior Citizens or Parents

Covering OPD Cover in Health Insurance

Conclusion

When choosing health insurance, it is prudent to check the waiting period clause details, to ensure that you would be getting your money’s worth. The above list can prove helpful to help you decide which health insurance policy and insurer would be the most beneficial for you and your family, especially in the case of pre-existing illnesses or conditions.