If you’re looking for a new credit card, your credit history plays a role in whether or not you’re accepted and what interest rate you pay. Health insurance is no different, though the history that is considered when you apply is the one that your doctor keeps.
Health insurance companies are protecting a risk and, like any insurance company, they try to keep the risk’s they insure as low as possible. So, the better your medical history is, the less likely they are to have to pay out a claim on your policy and the lower your premium will be.
Your medical history may also determine what type of private medical insurance you’ll be eligible to get. If you have diabetes, asthma or another chronic, incurable condition, for instance, most private insurers will exclude coverage for anything related to treatment. Some, taking into account the number of other conditions and illnesses for which those are a risk factor, will refuse to insure you at all. In general, that means that if you know you are ill, or that you’ll require medical treatment in the next six months because of a medical diagnosis, you may have trouble finding private health insurance to cover your needs.
There are many private health insurers who do not require a medical history, or only require a very basic one. In general, their policies will exclude coverage for any condition for which you have been treated in the past five years, or another specified period of time. If you remain free of symptoms and require no treatment for that condition for the specified period of time after you become insured, that condition may become eligible for cover again.
If your prospective insurer does ask for a medical history, you should always be truthful and declare everything you are aware of at the time. Any errors, omissions or outright lies in your application could negate your policy entirely. It’s better to have coverage for unrelated illnesses and conditions than to have no coverage at all.
So, should you bother with private medical insurance if you have a pre-existing chronic condition? Most experts would say yes. The NHS is designed to provide care and treatment for chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes. Your private medical insurance would still provide cover for you for illnesses, injuries and conditions that do not arise from your pre-existing chronic condition. In addition, if you have been treated for an illness in the past five years – ulcers, for instance – and have remained symptom free for five years, most policies will cover treatment for that condition if it recurs.
Interestingly, a number of UK private medical insurance providers do offer chronic conditions cover for UK expatriates. Most continental insurers do not exclude chronic conditions in their policies, and UK companies doing business overseas are beginning to follow suit. If you are seeking medical insurance for a period of time abroad, shop around to find one that will cover all of your needs during your time away.
To find out more about private medical insurance and which UK health insurance companies receive the best customer reviews, visit http://www.uk-insurance-index.co.uk/health-insurance-1.html.
By: Gareth Owen
Posts Tagged ‘Medical History’
Can You Get Health Insurance with a Medical History In the UK?
January 16th, 2010Can Group Health Schemes Refuse Coverage Because of A Pre-Existing Condition?
January 3rd, 2010
There is often confusion when talking about group health schemes because, although some people contend that group health plans are not allowed to exclude you from cover on the basis of your present health or your previous medical history, other people contend that they are allowed to refuse cover for pre-existing medical conditions.
The truth is that you may not be refused membership of a group health plan solely because of you present health, which includes any disability that you may have, or as a result of your prior medical history.
This said, both insurance companies and employers are entitled to ask you if you have any pre-existing medical conditions when you join a scheme or, if you submit a claim in the first year of coverage, to look back to establish whether you have any previous history of the condition which gives rise to the claim.
Where a pre-existing condition is either reported or found the insurer or employer may not simply deny you coverage under a group plan but may require an exclusion period for coverage of that particular pre-existing condition. Having said this, there are both federal and state laws that govern the exclusions that insurance companies and employers are allowed to place on their group health schemes.
Group health schemes cannot impose pre-existing condition exclusions because of either pregnancy or genetic information. Additionally, exclusions are not allowed for newborn babies, newly adopted children and children who are placed for adoption.
In general, pre-existing condition exclusions can only be imposed for conditions that are diagnosed within the 6 months before joining a group health scheme and for which you have been given (or been recommended to have) treatment. This 6 month period is often known as the ‘look back’ period.
Wherever an exclusion period is imposed it may not normally exceed 12 months and you must be credited for any previous continuous creditable coverage. Here cover is classed as continuous where it has not been interrupted by a break of more than 63 consecutive days. Most private and government sponsored health coverage is considered to be creditable and this will include such things as Medicare, VA coverage, foreign national coverage, student health insurance, Medicaid, military health coverage, Indian health insurance, individual health insurance and more.
Where an employer requires a waiting period for people to enter a scheme, or an HMO requires a similar affiliation period, these may not be counted in calculating any break in continuous coverage. In addition, pre-existing condition exclusion periods must take into account the waiting or affiliation period with the exclusion period beginning on the same day as the waiting or affiliation period.
If you are moving between group plans then the administrator of your new plan may look at your old plan to calculate any credit towards an exclusion period for your new plan. This could mean for instance that if the new plan offers cover that was not provided under your previous plan then exclusion periods can be imposed for pre-existing conditions that were not covered before but that are covered under your new plan.
One more point to note is that you must be given appropriate written notice of any exclusion period and the group scheme administrator is obliged to help you to obtain a certificate of creditable coverage for your old plan if you want him to do so.
By: Donald Saunders