Ratio between the total amount of "remuneration paid to employees by resident employers" (SNA definition) in a given year and the total amount of GDP. Remuneration includes wages, all types of non-wage, all types of non-wage cash benefits, as well as social security contributions. [ILO,ISSA,2004,8030].

A period of one or more months following enrolment, during which new members pay premiums to the scheme but are not entitled to receive benefits, whether for themselves or for their dependents. The waiting period is primarily aimed at discouraging opportunistic behaviour in persons who might enrol only in time of need (such as immediately prior to a delivery or planned surgical operation) and subsequently withdraw from the scheme. The waiting period also enables health micro-insurance schemes to accumulate financial reserves as from the scheme's inception. The length of the waiting period often varies depending upon the type of health services covered.

Example: The waiting period for maternity benefits may be nine or 10 months, but only one to three months for consultation, hospitalization and medicines. [ref. 144]

Synonyms: qualifying period, observation period, probationary period

The amount a person is willing to pay in order to obtain insurance coverage. An individual's willingness to pay depends both on his or her level of income and perception of the risks involved: the greater a person's aversion to risk, the greater will be his or her willingness to pay to obtain insurance coverage for a particular risk. Willingness to pay is always less than or equal to ability to pay. However, in the case of poverty, ability to pay and willingness to pay are both very weak and tend to be indistinguishable from one another. [ILO-STEP, 144]

See: ability to pay