Rider/Exclusionary rider

A rider is an addition to a health insurance policy that amends or supplements the terms of coverage. Some riders add coverage; for example, adding a maternity rider will add coverage for pregnancy. However, other riders, called exclusionary riders, exclude or limit coverage for a specific health impairment, whether that’s coverage for a health condition, body part, or body system.

Federal law does not allow exclusionary riders to be applied to children’s coverage, and since 2014, no exclusionary riders have been allowed in any health insurance. This means that health insurance may not exclude or limit coverage for a specific health condition.

Health insurance riders generally come at an additional cost but add extra coverage for an area chosen. For example, the pregnancy rider will add coverage to manage the costs of prenatal care and labor and delivery.

Some types of riders include: 

• Long-term care riders 
• Term conversion riders 
• Accidental death riders 
• Guaranteed insurability riders 
• Critical illness riders