Most insurance plans have what is known as a waiting period. This is a measure taken by the insurance companies to protect the fund holders. In the case of maternity insurance, some companies offer pregnancy insurance without a waiting period. This allows pregnant couples to make the claim for the insurance money without having to wait to conceive.


Why Have Waiting Periods?

Waiting periods are measures taken by insurance companies to protect policy holders by making sure that none of the contributors join the fund and then make a huge claim soon before terminating the membership. If this was often the case, it would result in huge premiums for all the policy members. However, in the case of medical treatments or hospital treatments, there are no waiting periods involved if there was an accident after joining the insurance company. There are maximum durations established by the government, which stipulate how long people need to wait before they can claim the benefits for treatments.

These include one year for a pre-existing condition, one year wait for pregnancy cases (which is considered a pre-existing condition), two months in the case of palliative, psychiatric or rehabilitation expenses and a two months waiting period for all other instances. One aspect to be noted is that the government does not control the waiting periods applicable for benefits payable towards general cover treatments. Such waiting periods are established by individual health insurance companies and a candidate needs to be aware of the waiting periods associated with their policy.


Coverage and Waiting Periods

In the case of insurance companies, all of them typically require that pregnant couples wait at least a year before being eligible for coverage for associated medical expenses. Most insurance companies tend to be quite stringent about this clause and sometimes there could be no coverage if the baby was delivered during this time. However, some companies have started offering pregnancy insurance without a waiting period.

This allows pregnant couples to receive coverage without having to wait the full one year. The drawback is that such plans might not provide the extent of coverage that a plan with a waiting period does. For example, certain plans will not be inclusive of obstetrics or might pay only a certain portion of the benefits. The best way to go about a pregnancy cover is to plan ahead and apply for an upgrade to ensure adequate coverage before getting pregnant.


Pre-Existing Illness

If a person already has an illness before taking the pregnancy insurance, they might qualify for pregnancy insurance without the waiting period. Such an ailment should exist anytime at least six months before taking the insurance coverage or opting for an upgrade to higher coverage. The medical practitioner who is appointed by the insurance company will consider the information furnished by the patient’s doctor about the pre-existing condition.

With proper consultation with the chosen insurance company, it is possible to know beforehand if the couple is eligible for pregnancy insurance without the waiting period or not.