Health insurance waiting periods

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?

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

All psychiatric care, rehabilitation or palliative care has a 2-month waiting period – even if it's considered a pre-existing condition.

Hospital treatment: 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. If you change your health insurance policy to a higher level of cover, you will have to serve the waiting periods. This applies regardless of whether you're switching funds or remaining with the same insurer.

Can I get extras insurance with no waiting period?

The following perks are available with some policies:

• You get to skip 2- and 6-month waiting periods for general dental as well as optical, psychology, pharmacy and remedial massages.
• You get up to 2 free dental check-ups per year – just make sure you use one of ahm's partner dentists.
• You also get 100% back on optical, up to the annual limit – this includes frames, prescription lenses and contact lenses.

We arranged our top picks from the least to the most comprehensive.

Top pick:
Lifestyle Extras

Lifestyle Extras

from $57.41 /month

Cover for 11 extras treatments

• General Dental
• Major Dental
• Optical
• Physiotherapy
• Hearing aids

+7 other treatments covered

Top pick:
Family extras

Family Extras

from $62.09 /month

Cover for 13 extras treatments

• General Dental
• Major Dental
• Optical
• Physiotherapy
• Hearing aids

+8 other treatments covered

Top pick:
Super extras

Super Extras

from $93.56 /month

Cover for 13 extras treatments

• General Dental
• Major Dental
• Optical
• Physiotherapy
• Hearing aids

+8 other treatments covered

• How we chose these policies

  We picked these policies because they were the only eligible† extras policies on the market that offered zero waiting periods for general dental and optical (without a special offer). We arranged them from the least to the most comprehensive.

  To be eligible, policies needed to be available to purchase in March 2025 from a non-restricted provider with at least a 0.5% national market share.

  Quotes are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income, $750 excess and living in Sydney.

"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

Journalist

Frequently asked questions about no waiting periods

• Can health insurance waive waiting periods?

  Yes, there are 2 cases in which health insurers sometimes waive waiting periods:

  1. If you already have a hospital policy and you're switching to a similar level of cover with another fund.
  2. As a sign-up incentive, some insurers let you skip waiting periods for extras treatments such as dental, chiro and optical.

• Can you use health insurance straight away?

  You cannot typically use hospital insurance straight away. You will need to wait 2 months before you can claim. If you're seeking treatment related to a pre-existing condition, you will need to wait 12 months. However, some extras (out of hospital) policies let you claim straight away.

• Can I get dental insurance with no waiting period?

  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.

• Is it possible to get pregnancy waiting periods waived?

  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, such as birthing classes, lactation consultants and visits from a registered midwife.

• Can I switch funds without losing my waiting periods?

  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.

• What happens if I have a break in cover?

  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.

• Is a qualifying period the same as a waiting period?

  Yes. Both refer to the amount of time you need to wait before health insurance benefits become available.

• Which health insurance has the shortest waiting period?

  Health insurance for hospital cover always has a waiting period of at least 2 months. Health insurance for extras cover is the only type of health insurance with flexibility around waiting periods. ahm's extras policies have a range of services that are available without a waiting period. These include common needs like general dental and optical.

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Jason Loewenthal as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Gary Ross Hunter

Journalist

Gary Ross Hunter has over 6 years of expertise writing about insurance, including life, health, home, and car insurance. Having reviewed hundreds of product disclosure statements and published over 800 articles, he loves simplifying complex insurance topics for everyday readers. Gary has contributed to major outlets like Yahoo Finance, The Sydney Morning Herald, and news.com.au, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature from the University of Glasgow, along with a Tier 2 General Advice certification, ensuring his work adheres to ASIC’s RG146 standards. See full bio

Gary Ross's expertise

Gary Ross has written 622 Finder guides across topics including:

• Health, home, life, car, pet and travel insurance
• Managing the cost of living