Does health insurance with no waiting period exist?  

When you take out a health insurance policy in Australia, there’s a waiting period before you can claim. On Hospital Cover, the waiting period length is set by the Australian government, but on Extras Cover, insurers can choose their own waiting periods. So, does health insurance with no waiting period exist, and how can you find the best policy for waiting periods? 

Why are there waiting periods for health insurance? 

Waiting periods are there to stop people joining a new policy, claiming immediately, then cancelling the policy – which would cost insurers a lot of money, and therefore drive up the cost of premiums for everyone. The length of waiting periods for health insurance depends on the type of cover, the treatment you’re claiming and whether or not you have pre-existing conditions.

How long are waiting periods? 

On Hospital Cover, there’s a waiting period of between 2 and 12 months before you can claim. For treatments for pre-existing conditions, and pregnancy and birth claims, the waiting period is 12 months. That means if you want to give birth in a private hospital, you need to take out the policy well before you get pregnant.  

On Extras Cover, waiting periods vary from one day (for some ambulance treatment claims) to as long as 3 years (for more expensive treatments, such as hearing aids). Since waiting periods for Extras Cover are determined by each insurer, the only way to know is to check the policy conditions or ask your insurer. 

Here are the maximum waiting periods for Hospital Claims: 

What is a pre-existing condition for health insurance?

Does health insurance with no waiting period exist? 

Yes, but only in certain circumstances. If you are changing to a new policy at the same level as your existing policy, there’s no waiting period – even if you’re moving to a different insurer.  

However if you’re new to health insurance you’ll have to serve a waiting period of at least 2 months before you can claim on Hospital Cover. And if you’re upgrading your existing policy to a higher level of cover, you’ll have to serve waiting periods of at least 2 months for the new treatments in your policy.  

But Extras Cover is slightly different. Sometimes insurers do waive waiting periods on Extras Cover, especially as part of a promotion to entice new customers.  

It’s worth asking your insurer if it will waive or reduce waiting periods on a new policy. But according to the Commonwealth Ombudsman, it’s rare for an insurer to waive waiting periods for a pre-existing condition (on Hospital Cover). 

How do I find health insurance with short waiting periods? 

With the healthslips.com.au calculator, you can search every health insurance policy in Australia anonymously and for free. We don’t sell insurance so you can trust that there’s no commercial bias in the results. And by clicking the ‘show differences’ tab at the top, you can easily see the differences in waiting periods for both Hospital Cover and Extras Cover policies, to help you make the best choice for your pocket and your healthcare needs. 

Search for a new policy on the healthslips.com.au calculator or compare your existing health cover with other policies on the market.  

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Trudie McConnochie

Writer and Researcher

Knowledge is power – that’s the guiding principle behind everything Trudie writes, and it’s a philosophy she brings to her work at healthslips.com.au. By breaking down complex information into easy-to-understand blogs and stories, she aims to empower Australians to make the best choices and an informed decision around private health insurance.

Trudie understands firsthand some of the complexity of private health insurance having moved to Australia from New Zealand and having to navigate a vastly different public healthcare system and health insurance structure.

Trudie holds a Bachelor of Communication Studies (journalism major) from the Auckland University of Technology.

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