Pre-existing Medical Conditions Coverage
Insurers may or may not cover pre-existing medical conditions coverage and could choose one of several ways to underwrite your application. If an insurer does cover a pre-existing condition, they will likely place an extra charge on your annual global health insurance policy or maybe they will cover the condition with no additional premium. Alternatively, an insurer might wait a few years to see if your pre-existing condition flares up.
Sometimes you can ask the insurer a few years after your exclusion to see if they can now cover the condition and provide additional medical evidence. Unfortunately, expatriate health insurers will not cover many pre-existing conditions – it all depends on your medical history, the medical condition and the risk tolerance of the insurance company. However, if you are part of an expatriate group insurance plan, you can make an exception to have all pre-existing conditions covered.
Contact us today if you want to apply for a global health plan and you have a pre-existing condition. We can help you provide our expert opinion and there is no harm in applying and seeing what they say. Note that you should always provide full and complete medical history disclosure when applying for an international health plan as this can impact your policy and could lead to the insurer cancelling your coverage as per their contract terms and conditions.
What is a Pre-existing Medical Condition?
This is really different for every insurance provider and policy. What is a pre-ex condition to one provider may not be a pre-existing medical condition to another. We have copied one insurance provider’s definition of a pre-existing condition as an example for expatriates, but again, this is not necessarily the same for the insurer you apply for:
- Any medical condition that existed prior to your application for an international health plan policy start date:
- You have been hospitalized
- You have been diagnosed by a medical professional at any time in your life
- You are taking or has previously taken a medication
- You received a referral to a specialist or for additional tests
- You are receiving other treatment directly referrable to the condition, symptom or problem
Again, the above is just a rough guide and the definition of a pre-existing condition varies from provider to provider.
Providing Details on your Pre-existing Medical Conditions
Bottom line, always be truthful and provide as much of your medical history as possible with as many details as possible – including medications taken, treatment received, dates of treatment, doctor names and contact details and any other relevant information. The last thing you want to do is leave questions unanswered in the underwriter’s mind when they make a decision to cover you or not or exclude the medical condition.
