As a general rule, health insurance is not immediately operative, but it is usually necessary for a certain period of time to elapse until the insured can already use all or some of the medical and health services that they have contracted. This time is what is usually known as the grace period .
During the time that the lack of medical card & health insurance lasts, some of its coverage is therefore not effective. Hence, before hiring health insurance, it is essential that you inform yourself very carefully about the deficiencies it maintains and the time during which they will last.
What does the grace period mean?
The lack of medical insurance is the time you must wait until the coverage of said insurance is valid and, consequently, you can use the contracted medical services. Insurance companies establish this period as a protection measure against those clients who seek to register only to solve some ailment or specific medical need and who, once this is resolved, unsubscribe again.
The duration of the grace period varies depending on the conditions established by each specific company. On the other hand, there are cases in which such a period is not applicable, since it is prevented by law. Thus, article 103 of the Insurance Contract Law states that assistance determined as vital emergencies cannot be subject to any grace period.
What is the gap in health insurance?
The lack of medical insurance is the period that elapses from the signing of the policy until the insured can request certain assistance services or coverage. In this sense, the lack acts as a guarantee for the insurance companies , so that the client does not take out the insurance just to cover a specific need and cancel the contract once it has been met.
On the other hand, although it is not usual, there are also medical insurances without deficiency , which are those that do not restrict any type of coverage or service within a stipulated period, but from the moment of discharge, you can already enjoy the services and coverages that appear in the policy that you have signed. Of course, you should know that this type of health insurance normally requires much higher premiums.
What are the most common deficiencies in health insurance?
Despite the fact that each company can establish specific deficiencies and periods, there is usually a lot of agreement on this issue between the different insurers. Thus, the usual thing is that the waiting periods affect coverage related to surgical interventions, pregnancy, prosthetics, transplants, second medical opinion or assisted reproduction, among other assistance and interventions.
In the specific case of surgical interventions, those performed on an outpatient basis are generally subject to a waiting period of 3 months, a period that is usually extended to 10 months for those other interventions that require hospitalization. Something similar happens with diagnostic means: in the most basic, such as blood tests or X-rays, there is, as a general rule, no waiting period.
However, those others that require a specific and more expensive technology, such as magnetic resonance imaging, are mostly subject to a grace period of between 3 and 6 months. In more sophisticated services and treatments, such as assisted reproduction, waiting periods are usually longer, in some cases reaching up to 48 months.
