Waiting period shouldn’t be the defining reason for taking a health policy: Harsh Roongta
Harsh Roongta, Founder, Fee Only Investment Advisers LLP, says “the entire waiting period is like a handicap, so that the person with a higher risk can still participate in the same pool as the person with a lower risk. So there can possibly be waiting periods, conceptually, whether they are allowed or not, I am not very sure in critical policies or disease specific policies like cancer. I do not think there is any restriction like that, but I am not completely sure.”
How long is the waiting period before insurance kicks in for surgery?In case of knee replacement or hip replacement or hysterectomy and similar things, typically waiting periods are about two years, but it could vary from policy to policy.
Neither is the waiting period on a pre-existing condition necessarily to be there. Maximum it can be four years, minimum it can be zero, it depends on the insurance company.
When we talk about waiting periods, it is usually health insurance policies that we are talking about. Or can this be extended to other types of policies or coverage also, like disease specific policies? We see cancer policies coming, we have different types of ailments policies, critical illness, personal accidents. Is there a waiting period clause also in these kinds of policies?
Okay, let us break that down.
If you look at the standard, because a critical illness policy has been predefined as to what kind of illnesses can be covered that has been predefined by IRDA. What are the wordings etc. I do not think there can be any waiting period.
The key is this. It is much like the golf handicaps. If you have people with different risks paying the same premium, then you are not being fair to the person who has a lower risk.
The entire waiting period is like
