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You will need to serve a 2- month waiting period for most hospital treatment and longer if it is a pre-existing condition.
Only extras policies will let you skip waiting periods for out-of-hospital care such as dental.
Can I get health insurance with no waiting period?
No for hospital
You can't skip waiting periods for hospital treatment in a private hospital. You will always need to have hospital insurance for at least 2 months before you can claim or 12 months if you need treatment for a pre-existing condition.
Yes for extras
Some extras insurance policies let you skip waiting periods for general dental, optical, physio and more. Remember, extras refers to out-of-hospital treatment only.
Can I get hospital insurance with no waiting period?
No. Hospital insurance always has a waiting period of at least 2 months. This is the same for all insurers. They need to adhere to the guidelines set out by the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.
Pregnancy: 12 months
All childbirth and pregnancy services come with a 12-month waiting period before you can claim on health insurance.
Pre-existing conditions: 12 months
You will need to wait 12 months if the medical issue you need treatment for is considered a pre-existing condition. For example, if you tear a ligament, then you take out health insurance, you will need to wait 12 months for surgery. There will generally be medical records showing if you had your illness or injury before you took out insurance.
Psychiatric care, rehabilitation and palliative care: 2 months
When you take out hospital insurance, you will need to pay for cover for 2 months before you are covered. Health insurers are not allowed to waive hospital waiting periods.
Switching funds?
If you're switching to a similar level of health insurance cover, you won't have to re-serve any waiting periods for treatment you were previously covered for. For example, if both your new and previous policy covered joint reconstructions, you will be covered straight away.
Can I get extras insurance with no waiting period?
Yes. Some extras policies will let you skip waiting periods for services such as general dental, optical, remedial massages and allied health services such as physio.
You can skip 2- and 6-month waiting periods with an ahm Lifestyle Extras policy (this includes general dental, optical and physio). It's the only policy we found that permanently offers this benefit.
Other insurers often offer sign-up deals that let you skip 2- and 6-month waiting periods for extras only. We've listed Finder partners below:
Looking to do more research? You can use this free tool to see health insurance quotes side by side. Keep an eye out for the yellow banner highlighting any insurers waiving waiting periods as a sign-up deal.
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Compare prices from 30+ Aussie funds in under 30 seconds.
Frequently asked questions about no waiting periods
Yes. You can skip waiting periods for general dental with ahm. It has a $500 annual general dental limit with no waiting period and 2 no-gap check-ups.
Remember: You may be able to get no waiting period dental with more funds if you take advantage of sign-up deals or offers. Check them out here.
Pregnancy and childbirth hospital services come with a 12-month waiting period. The only way to get this waiting period waived is if you've already served it with another health fund.
Be aware though. Even if you've been with a fund for years, it won't count that time unless you've held a policy that covers childbirth.
So, if you have a bronze-level hospital policy for 10 years and upgrade to gold so you're covered for childbirth, you'll still have to wait another 12 months before you can claim.
This means you should lock in gold-level cover before you start trying to have a baby. Otherwise, you won't be able to take advantage of those benefits.
However, there are some pregnancy benefits you may be able to access without serving a 12-month waiting period – but only out-of-hospital services. Some extras policies include benefits for prenatal and postnatal services, including birthing classes, lactation consultants and visits from a registered midwife.
Yes. Even if you switch funds halfway through a waiting period, you won't start from scratch for treatments you've already served. That means if you serve 6 months with 1 fund, you'll only have to serve 6 months with another in order to earn your 12-month waiting period.
If you have a small break in cover, you won't necessarily lose your served waiting periods. However, this break can usually only be a couple of weeks or months at most – after that, you'll have to serve the waiting periods again.
Gary Hunter is a writer at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, health, travel, home and pet insurance for over three years, has pored over hundreds of product disclosure statements and written more than 500 insurance articles. Gary holds a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and is passionate about helping Aussies understand their policies so that they can get better value for their money.
I have been with a fund for many years and I recently upgrade to premium hospital cover. Due to the upgrade I now have to wait 12 months for some pre-existing conditions. If I were to transfer to another fund to cover of the same level would the wait time continue?
Thanks for getting in touch with finder. I hope all is well with you. :)
Generally, if you switch to another, according to Private Health Ombudsman, “you will not have to re-serve waiting periods if you transfer to a policy that is at the same or a lower level of benefit. Your new fund must give you continuity for the waiting periods you have already served. However, if your new plan includes new or higher benefits that were not part of your old policy, you will have to complete a waiting period before you can access those benefits.”
To give you a short answer, you should not wait another 12 months if you are to transfer to another fund and that fund will cover the same level.
I hope this helps. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach us out again.
Generally, waiting periods vary and are different for hospital cover and general treatment (extras) cover. As for obstetrics (pregnancy), the government sets 12 months as the maximum waiting period that funds can impose for hospital treatment. You may like to read more about how waiting periods work on health insurance.
Currently, in our panel of health funds, AHM has an offer of waiving waiting periods on extras services only. To check the details, please head to our list of health insurance deals and offers.
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I have been with a fund for many years and I recently upgrade to premium hospital cover. Due to the upgrade I now have to wait 12 months for some pre-existing conditions. If I were to transfer to another fund to cover of the same level would the wait time continue?
Hi Kym,
Thanks for getting in touch with finder. I hope all is well with you. :)
Generally, if you switch to another, according to Private Health Ombudsman, “you will not have to re-serve waiting periods if you transfer to a policy that is at the same or a lower level of benefit. Your new fund must give you continuity for the waiting periods you have already served. However, if your new plan includes new or higher benefits that were not part of your old policy, you will have to complete a waiting period before you can access those benefits.”
To give you a short answer, you should not wait another 12 months if you are to transfer to another fund and that fund will cover the same level.
I hope this helps. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach us out again.
Have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Joshua
Hi how long waiting period for pregnancy insurance.
Hi Kin,
Thanks for reaching out.
Generally, waiting periods vary and are different for hospital cover and general treatment (extras) cover. As for obstetrics (pregnancy), the government sets 12 months as the maximum waiting period that funds can impose for hospital treatment. You may like to read more about how waiting periods work on health insurance.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
May
Is there any promotions about waiting periods being waived with any health fund with extras only if we are in WA
Hi Karen,
Thank you for your question.
Currently, in our panel of health funds, AHM has an offer of waiving waiting periods on extras services only. To check the details, please head to our list of health insurance deals and offers.
Cheers,
Zubair