For pre-existing diseases: Most insurance companies have a compulsory waiting term before covering pre-existing ailments. Pre-existing condition refers to any ailment, injury, disease or health condition that is diagnosed up before you purchased the health insurance policy. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nAs per the circular from IRDAI on 10th February 2020, a pre-existing condition is any illness or a medical condition, sickness, disease, or injury, that has been diagnosed prior to the purchase of a medical insurance plan. Any such medical condition diagnosed by a physician 48 months prior to the date of the issuance of the policy or its reinstatement is considered a pre-existing condition.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAccording to the new terms, only those diseases that are prevalent and have been diagnosed before buying the insurance are considered PEDs. Therefore, if you have an illness that you were unaware of or was not diagnosed before the insurance came into effect, it would not be considered under PED.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nSome of the most common pre-existing conditions include thyroid, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, cholesterol, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- For specific diseases: The waiting period for specific diseases is a customizable feature and is applicable for certain specific diseases. There are some listed diseases and medical treatment procedures like \u2013 ENT disorders, osteoporosis, cataract, joint replacement operation, etc. In such ailments, you need to serve a waiting term of one or two years (depending on the insurance company). However, you can waive off the waiting span by adding features to the healthcare policy or add-on benefits and enjoy a cashless treatment\/reimbursement for expenses. <\/li>
- Initial waiting term: The initial period is constant with every insurance provider in the country. For most insurance companies, the initial waiting course is for thirty days. The initial waiting period refers to the period for which you have to wait before the health insurance policy becomes active. You have to wait until the expiry of this initial waiting period to receive the benefits from your health insurance policy. During this period the insurer cannot avail of insurance benefits and coverage for planned medical treatment. If you are covered under an employer-sponsored group healthcare policy, you can get coverage for accidental treatment expenditure during the waiting period. <\/li>
- For critical illness: Most health insurance policies have a waiting period regulation for critical illnesses. It may be up to ninety days. The policy covers the medical expenses only if the insured person gets diagnosed with the disease after passing the waiting period, as regulated by the insurance company. The critical illness may be related to multiple organs in the body like \u2013 the kidney, heart, liver, etc. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n