Did you know that getting health insurance after being diagnosed with a condition like Covid-19 becomes a bit difficult? If you are affected by diseases that are unpredictable in nature or have the tendency to relapse frequently, it makes you a high-risk individual for the insurance provider and increases their chances of settling claims. Cooling-off period in health insurance plays an important role in assessing the risk profile of an individual’s health condition.

A necessary tool for health insurance providers, cooling-off period may be troublesome for interested individuals. Learn everything you need to know about the cooling-off period in health insurance here.

In simple terms, cooling-off period in insurance is a predetermined time period during which a person who is still in the recovery phase cannot buy health insurance. This cooling-off period is set by the insurance provider for different illnesses, and it can range from a few days to a few months.

People sometimes confuse cooling-off period in health insurance plans with waiting period, but they are slightly different. Waiting period is the time period between the purchase of insurance and the day the coverage kicks in; it starts after buying insurance. Whereas cooling-off period starts after you have use recovered from a certain illness, and it is often a prerequisite for buying insurance.

The health insurance plan is usually formulated based on the risks involved in covering an individual. Covering a healthy individual with no pre-existing medical conditions is lower than an individual who has recently recovered from a disease. The purpose of the cooling-off period is to assess the chances of relapse of the disease the individual was affected by.

For example, if someone has just recovered from a Covid-19 infection, the cooling-off period ensures that they have enough time to let their symptoms completely go away. Since the long-term impact of Covid-19 is still unknown, many people have experienced that their pre-existing pulmonary and cardiovascular issues have worsened, or they have developed new issues. This makes it a little complicated for insurance providers to update the insurance plan of such individuals. With the cooling-off period, health insurance providers get a clear picture and see whether any such complications emerge or not.

However, a cooling-off period is not only beneficial for the insurance provider but also advantageous for the policyholders as they can file their claims after getting health insurance with relatively few problems.

The insurance cooling-off period provides insurers a fair chance at evaluating your health accurately before issuing a health insurance policy. Depending on the insurer’s protocols, you may be required to furnish negative test reports from a designated diagnostic lab and undergo certain physical examinations when you apply for a health insurance plan. You may also be required to furnish your medical records if you were affected by a medical condition in the last 6-12 months.

Based on the assessment, your insurance provider may issue the desired policy right away or add a cooling-off period before issuing.

Some people put off health insurance and get diagnosed with a certain illness. This is when the realisation kicks in for many people to have a health insurance plan. But the chances of that illness returning are quite high when you have just recovered from it or recently recovered from it. This translates to increased chances of claim requests if they get health insurance. To cater to such high-risk individuals and lower their costs, most insurance providers require such individuals to wait out the cooling-off before issuing health insurance.

Since diseases like Covid-19 reoccur intermittently, cooling-off period in health insurance has become an important part of the risk assessment process of many insurance providers. Cooling-off period has no impact on the insurance premiums, it only impacts the issuing date of the insurance policy.

Currently, there is no clause that allows you to skip the cooling-off period due to the uncertainty of the nature of different diseases, including Covid-19. If it is a prerequisite for your insurance provider, you’d have to wait it out in order to get the desired insurance plan. It is recommended that you get health insurance before you get affect by any chronic, severe, or unpredictable illness. Apart from avoiding the cooling-off period, people who invest in health insurance early on enjoy many benefits, like lower premium rates.

With the help of health insurance you can beat the ever-increasing healthcare costs and avoid burning a hole in your pocket trying to get the best treatment. It is best to prepare for the future amidst the anticipation of pandemics in the future by investing in a good health insurance plan. You may have to wait for the cooling-off period to pass if you wait for buying health insurance after incurring a medical condition.

About Cooling-off Period in Health Insurance

A. Cooling-off period is a term that is usually used to define the waiting period after an individual has recently recovered from a certain illness before they can get insurance.

A. You cannot avoid waiting for the cooling-off period if your insurance provider requires it. The only way to avoid it completely is by investing in health insurance early on when you are healthy.

A. Depending on different factors, including the nature of the disease you were affected by and your insurance provider, your cooling-off may range from a few days to a few months.

A. Some insurance providers give their policyholders a ‘cooling-off period’ of usually 15-30 days to cancel their policy and receive a full refund if they haven’t made a claim. It is more commonly known as free look period.