What is a waiting period?

All health funds have waiting periods. In short, a waiting period is a period of time you need to wait after taking out your cover before you can receive benefits for services or items covered.

What is a waiting period?

All health funds have waiting periods. In short, a waiting period is a period of time you need to wait after taking out your cover before you can receive benefits for services or items covered.

You're not able to receive benefits for any items or services you might have obtained while you're serving a waiting period or before you joined Medibank.

How do I know if a waiting period applies to me? 

Waiting periods will apply if you're a new member, you're re-joining Medibank after not having health cover for some time or you're changing to a higher level of cover (either within Medibank or transferring from another fund).

If you're changing to a higher level of cover, you'll still be entitled to benefits at the level of your former cover while you're serving any waiting periods on your new cover if:

  • those services were included under your old cover; and
  • you've already served the waiting periods that applied under your old cover. 

How long is the waiting period?

It's important to note that not all services listed below are included on all covers. That depends on the types of services or items included on your cover. Refer to the relevant Cover Summary to see the waiting periods that apply for a specific cover.

Looking for something else?

Visit our Overseas Health Cover Guides homepage to find more information and advice.

Your guide to navigating Australian healthcare

Most visitors to Australia have no access to Medicare. Like most countries in the world, health care costs in Australia can be expensive.

Need some help?

We’re here to help you choose the health cover that matches your needs while you’re in Australia. Contact Medibank how it suits you; online 24/7, WeChat, in-store or by phone.

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Things you should know

While we hope you find this information helpful, please note that it is general in nature. It is not health advice, and is not tailored to meet your individual health needs. You should always consult a trusted health professional before making decisions about your health care. While we have prepared the information carefully, we can’t guarantee that it is accurate, complete or up-to-date. And while we may mention goods or services provided by others, we aren’t specifically endorsing them and can’t accept responsibility for them. For these reasons we are unable to accept responsibility for any loss that may be sustained from acting on this information (subject to applicable consumer guarantees).

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