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.
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.
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. The only exception to this is when you're switching funds – served waiting periods will transfer over.
All childbirth and pregnancy services come with a 12-month waiting period before you can claim on health insurance.
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.
All psychiatric care, rehabilitation or palliative care has a 2-month waiting period – even if it's considered a pre-existing condition.
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.
| Response | 75+ yrs | 65-74 yrs | 55-64 yrs | 45-54 yrs | 35-44 yrs | 25-34 yrs | 18-24 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I never compare or switch insurance | 29.55% | 16.28% | 19.88% | 14.79% | 11.35% | 17.37% | 18.82% |
| About once a year | 15.91% | 11.63% | 9.94% | 17.16% | 23.78% | 16.84% | 14.12% |
| About every 3+ yrs | 9.09% | 9.3% | 9.94% | 5.33% | 8.65% | 5.26% | 4.71% |
| About every 2 yrs | 4.55% | 8.72% | 8.7% | 8.88% | 14.59% | 10% | 7.06% |
| More than once a year | 4.55% | 3.49% | 3.73% | 2.96% | 2.16% | 4.21% | 2.35% |
Yes. You can skip general dental waiting periods with some of ahm's policies. These are the only policies to permanently offer this benefit. We looked at all health insurance policies on the market.
All come with the following perks:
We arranged our top picks from the least to the most comprehensive.
I usually take out extras cover a couple times a year when I need a dental check-up. I always go with an insurer like ahm that has no waiting period, then book through one of its no-gap providers.— Gary Ross Hunter, insurance expert
Why compare health insurance with Finder?
We don't ask for your phone or email to see prices.
With 1 click, you can open your results to nearly every fund in Australia.
You pay the same price as going direct – we charge no fees.
You'll often see health funds offer sign-up deals that let you skip 2- and 6-month waiting periods, typically for extras only. Here is the list of all sign-up deals currently offered by Finder health insurance partners. Not every deal below offers zero waiting periods for extras, so you'll need to check the details.
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