{"id":15580,"date":"2015-07-08T12:29:32","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T16:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/?page_id=15580"},"modified":"2015-09-02T16:55:25","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T20:55:25","slug":"pre-existing-conditions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/travel-insurance\/pre-existing-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-Existing Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tripsense-travel-insurance-medical-pre-exsisting-conditions\"<\/a>A pre-existing condition is a condition\u00a0that is known at the time you purchase insurance.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s think of the most extreme example.\u00a0 You\u2019ve just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and you decide to get life insurance.\u00a0 Obviously, it\u2019s too late \u2013 they won\u2019t sell it to you, and even if you don\u2019t tell them about your new diagnosis, when it comes time to collect, your beneficiaries will not get a cent because they will investigate before they pay the claim and find out that it was known at the time you bought the insurance.<\/p>\n

With travel insurance, it\u2019s the same thing.\u00a0 If any of the covered risks are KNOWN at the time you purchase the insurance, it won\u2019t be covered and the claim will be denied.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at some common ones.<\/p>\n

You have a very sick family member<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your parent or immediate family member had heart surgery a few months ago and is now recovering nicely at home.\u00a0 You\u2019ve been through the mill helping out and checking in, bringing meals and giving emotional support.\u00a0 The worry and stress has you wanting to take a vacation.\u00a0 You purchase cancellation insurance<\/a> because maybe something will happen and you don\u2019t want to lose all that money.<\/p>\n

This risk is KNOWN at the time you buy the insurance and won\u2019t be covered.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean it never will be covered because your family member had a heart attack.\u00a0 Pre-existing conditions can be covered if they are STABLE AND CONTROLLED \u2013 and this carries a specific definition of time and conditions that may differ on the age of the person in question and the type of coverage you purchase.<\/p>\n

\"tripsense-travel-insurance-stable-condition\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What is STABLE & CONTROLLED then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each insurance policy is different, and the policy type and price will make a difference.\u00a0 But let\u2019s look at one example where the person in question has a pre-existing condition and have been out of the hospital for 3, 6, or 12 months (depending on the plan).\u00a0 They have had no relapses.\u00a0 They have had no INCREASE or DECREASE or change in medication.\u00a0 This is the big thing \u2013 oftentimes medication is tweaked after hospitalization, and each time medication is changed it introduces new risk.\u00a0 The time frame restarts again even if the patient is doing well and medication is reduced!\u00a0 The patient must be free of any evidence that there are complications or new problems during this period of time.<\/p>\n

If you or someone in your immediate family has a pre-existing condition, you should look carefully at the clauses in the policy that apply.\u00a0 Package insurance (with cancellation and other coverage) often has less onerous conditions around this than medical only.<\/p>\n

Does it mean that someone with a pre-existing condition cannot get insurance at all?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, some pre-existing conditions will allow for a higher premium because they are not as risky \u2013 this often occurs with longer term illnesses that are not likely to flare up and result in unexpected emergency medical care.\u00a0 For higher risk coverage, it\u2019s possible to still be covered by purchasing an \u201cunderwritten policy\u201d.\u00a0 This is essentially a detailed medical questionnaire which can only be filled out by the person themselves and is sent to the insurance company for review.\u00a0 Based on the specific answers to the questions, a premium is offered for coverage.\u00a0 It is very important to answer these questions accurately and even have them reviewed by the attending physician because in the event of a claim, if the doctor contradicts the questionnaire answers, the claim could be denied.<\/p>\n

If you fill out medical questionnaires annually, please read them carefully \u2013 there are limits of number of years since surgeries for example, where after a certain period of time coverage is denied.\u00a0 Example, if you had heart by-pass more than ten years ago, often they will not cover it on general policies.\u00a0 You forget about it because you feel perfectly healthy, but the insurance company sees increased risk.<\/p>\n

\"tripsense-pre=exsisting-conditions\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Other non-medical pre-existing conditions<\/strong><\/p>\n

It goes back to the same concept of being KNOWN at the time of purchasing the insurance.\u00a0 If you are in the midst of a lawsuit and court dates are about to be decided, you may not get away with making a claim for being subpoenaed, especially if you are a litigant.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tricky enough for us to wade through the pre-existing conditions exclusions of our own Manulife policy; finding, reading and interpreting your own credit card coverage (or trusting their call centre staff) is another matter.<\/p>\n

So, if there\u2019s a pre-existing condition, why would I still buy insurance?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just because one risk is not covered, doesn\u2019t mean that there are not other risks that could disrupt your vacation or put you in need of medical care.\u00a0 Even if the pre-existing condition is not covered, one can still slip and fall, or another member of the travelling party could find themselves in need of coverage.<\/p>\n

Our Concierge Plan has \u201cChange of Mind\u201d coverage, which while limited (it won\u2019t cover your entire loss), it will give you some protection even for a pre-existing condition \u2013 because you can claim for ANY reason \u2013 including \u201cI just don\u2019t feel like going\u201d.<\/p>\n

Supplier Cancellation Waivers (not insurance) can afford some protection with respect to pre-existing conditions.\u00a0 These waivers are similar to change of mind, and often will not result in refunds, but they will allow for example, postponing a trip to a later date (waiving change or cancellation fees), applying a credit towards a new trip, and other options.\u00a0 Be careful as they often will have limitations of application within close proximity to departure \u2013 ie, they are not valid within 7 or 48hrs of departure, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A pre-existing condition is a condition\u00a0that is known at the time you purchase insurance. Let\u2019s think of the most extreme example.\u00a0 You\u2019ve just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and you decide to get life insurance.\u00a0 Obviously, it\u2019s too late \u2013 they won\u2019t sell it to you, and even if you don\u2019t tell them about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"parent":15539,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full.php","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15580"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16341,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15580\/revisions\/16341"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}