Travel Insurance - pre-existing condition (heart)

[JB expat]

I now have a pre-existing condition (heart related). I have medical clearance to fly/travel, but I need to make sure that I have coverage should something happen. I am specifically looking for those who have had acceptance of a pre-existing condition (even if it took jumping through a few hoops in terms of paperwork/doctors) - who did you use/how much extra did it cost you? Do you go with an annual policy or just a per-trip policy? Most of my travels are to the USA.

thank you.

 

[Pushka]

If your condition emerged after you took out cover I think you are covered anyway. We had an annual policy with TID and I developed a DVT after the policy taken out. They would still cover me as long as Drs said it was ok. Of course they didn't that trip but the policy will cover for another new trip still within the policy dates. I have all this confirmed in emails.

For future years I am using Insureandgo who cover for pre-existing with additional premiums. Their screening is online. Very easy.

 

[JB expat]

yes, I was covered for a trip booked/insured prior to the event but now I'm thinking ahead and trying to be pro-active re: trips on the horizon. We will holiday in Australia for the next 12 months if we need to (my business trips are self-insured by my company so long as I have medical clearance), but I'm trying to get a feeling as to what my options are going forward.

 

[Pushka]

Then try insureandgo!

 

[jxv]

I now have a pre-existing condition (heart related). I have medical clearance to fly/travel, but I need to make sure that I have coverage should something happen. I am specifically looking for those who have had acceptance of a pre-existing condition (even if it took jumping through a few hoops in terms of paperwork/doctors) - who did you use/how much extra did it cost you? Do you go with an annual policy or just a per-trip policy? Most of my travels are to the USA.

thank you.

Mrs ixv has one low-risk, non-life-threatening, pre-existing condition and I have two. I have used the BankWest MC travel insurance, the only credit card insurance I could find which covers pre-existing conditions. It was with Zurich. They had a simple on-line assessment tool and they covered our conditions for an "administrative fee" of $45 pp per trip. Last year BankWest changed to Allianz. Assessment is by phone. They covered us for $75 pp per trip.

Our trips this year are on various combinations of award and revenue tickets. I checked whether this would be covered, but no, to qualify for BankWest insurance, one needs to have a "return ticket" for each trip. So I had to look for other insurance. I selected QBE's annual policy. I had to complete an on-line form. Writing in of details was required, a lot more time-consuming than the Zurich form. The form was then assessed by their medical staff and the next day I received their answer: no extra charges, Mrs. jxv's condition accepted, one of my conditions accepted with a $75000 liability limit, the other not covered at all. Because of the low risk I decided to accept.

I hope my experiences are useful to you!

 

[JB expat]

Mrs ixv has one low-risk, non-life-threatening, pre-existing condition and I have two. I have used the BankWest MC travel insurance, the only credit card insurance I could find which covers pre-existing conditions. It was with Zurich. They had a simple on-line assessment tool and they covered our conditions for an "administrative fee" of $45 pp per trip. Last year BankWest changed to Allianz. Assessment is by phone. They covered us for $75 pp per trip.

Our trips this year are on various combinations of award and revenue tickets. I checked whether this would be covered, but no, to qualify for BankWest insurance, one needs to have a "return ticket" for each trip. So I had to look for other insurance. I selected QBE's annual policy. I had to complete an on-line form. Writing in of details was required, a lot more time-consuming than the Zurich form. The form was then assessed by their medical staff and the next day I received their answer: no extra charges, Mrs. jxv's condition accepted, one of my conditions accepted with a $75000 liability limit, the other not covered at all. Because of the low risk I decided to accept.

I hope my experiences are useful to you!

Thank you. I will look into QBE - my issue is that re-occurrence probability is low, but if it does happen to reoccur, it will be very, very $$. A $75,000 cap would not work for mine. I have a lot to investigate before my next trip.

 

[UP4014]

AON Affinity - they custom include the things you need in travel insurance. Yes of course costs, but also a company that will sort out the big one if needed.

Matt

 

[ontheaisle]

OP, I can personally recommend Cover-More for covering pre-existing conditions (particularly heart related). I travel a lot with my father (age 77) who has a number of pre-existing medical conditions and I've found Cover-More to be willing to cover conditions other insurer's will not, such as his coronary stents. The only downside is that there is no cancellation included in the premium and must be added, but you can choose the amount of cover your require.

As an example, I purchased a policy for him last week and the loading to cover his pre-existing conditions for a 16 day trip to SE Asia/UK was about $95, for a total price of $450 (including $2000 of cancellation insurance). His covered pre-existing conditions were atherosclerosis, coronary and other stents and angioplasty, type 2 diabetes, cellulitis, and cholesterol. I think the price would increase or possibly cover not offered for a particular condition if it resulted in an unplanned visit to hospital in the last six months.

 

[JB expat]

Thanks so much ontheaisle!

 

[urbancowboy]

OP, I can personally recommend Cover-More for covering pre-existing conditions (particularly heart related).

Covermore won't cover my heart condition for travel to the USA & Canada, but they will for Europe. Guess the risk is higher for them should something happen in North America?

JP expat - did you find a travel insurance company that could assist? I am having a pretty difficult time finding suitable coverage for North America

 

[ontheaisle]

urbancowboy, that's a shame. Maybe try AllClear? Apparently they will cover all pre-existing conditions - for a price.

 

[SFSC]

urbancowboy, that's a shame. Maybe try AllClear? Apparently they will cover all pre-existing conditions - for a price.

For what it's worth, I noticed that the postal address for AllClear shown in their Contact us page is the same as that for InsureandGo.

 

[Cynicor]

For what it's worth, I noticed that the postal address for AllClear shown in their Contact us page is the same as that for InsureandGo.

Yep,insureandgo will cover anything. but $

 

[JB expat]

JP expat - did you find a travel insurance company that could assist? I am having a pretty difficult time finding suitable coverage for North America

No - because we decided to stay in country for now (this being one of the main reasons). When I travel for work, work self-insures provided I have medical clearance (I work for a large US public company). I will need to revisit this in June when we book for a personal holiday to the US.

 

[SFSC]

I have managed to obtain cover for un upcoming trip from AllClear. AllClear and InsureandGo seem to be related companies underwritten by Mitsui [FONT=&amp]Sumitomo. I had attempted to obtain cover from InsureandGo last year but when declaring conditions, had worked through the heart stuff and when I got to the melanoma I had had excised earlier that year "the computer said no".

Perhaps AllClear has been set up to accept more risk than InsureandGo because when I put in my details with them this year it was all accepted. The premium is eye-watering expensive though! Even so, this sure beats the alternative of personally standing ready to fund an intensive care hospital stay at somewhere like DXB and possibly some private flying too. There is also the chance that arrangements like I did last year when I didn't have cover might trip someone's money laundering alarm somewhere.

[/FONT]

 

[JB expat]

I have managed to obtain cover for un upcoming trip from AllClear. AllClear and InsureandGo seem to be related companies underwritten by Mitsui Sumitomo. I had attempted to obtain cover from InsureandGo last year but when declaring conditions, had worked through the heart stuff and when I got to the melanoma I had had excised earlier that year "the computer said no".

Perhaps AllClear has been set up to accept more risk than InsureandGo because when I put in my details with them this year it was all accepted. The premium is eye-watering expensive though! Even so, this sure beats the alternative of personally standing ready to fund an intensive care hospital stay at somewhere like DXB and possibly some private flying too. There is also the chance that arrangements like I did last year when I didn't have cover might trip someone's money laundering alarm somewhere.

Good info - thanks. I am seeing my specialist in 2 weeks. Am having them fill out some paperwork and will go back to a couple of insurers that don't do everything online, but wait for the dr's input. If that doesn't get me anywhere, I will (like you) just pay whatever it is needs to be paid. I did notice that if I hit 24 months without a recurrence, I don't have to disclose on some provider's intake form - so I'm hopeful that this is temporary. I started this research well in advance of our trip, so at least I have time.

 

[Blackswan]

I find InsureandGo good for pre-existing conditions. I use "ENTERTAINMENT15" as the promo code to take 15% off the policy (thanks to the entertainment book)

 

[JB expat]

So, after not wanting to pay MORE than the price of my ticket to the USA for Insure & Go, and being knocked back by QBE because my cardiologist dropped one of meds after an all clear stress test (QBE wanted to wait 3 months to see how I did off the meds [insert eye roll]), I ended up using my in-laws Probus membership for travel insurance. In case you don't know what Probus is, it's like a social club for retirees. They have travel insurance at very reasonable prices and family members can use it (thus, my husband had to take it out even thought he doesn't need it as he is covered on our premium cc and then I piggy backed). They have one that will cover you for almost any pre-existing condition for a reasonable fee with a cap of $100,000. Not a lot for the USA but my cardiologist is confident nothing will happen after seeing my "fantastic" stress test results. The probus policy my husband is on has no limits and we both are covered (ex-my pre existing condition) under our premium credit card for anything else. I am hopefully that after my 3 year anniversary mark, I will have more options as the 3 year question was asked on every pre existing condition form I had to complete. I'd submit to a medical evaluation by an insurer to avoid the stress of finding insurance and take out an annual policy...too bad that isn't an option. Thankfully, our trip is in December and we booked early enough that there was plenty of time to work this all through.

 

[bobe]

My Father in Law is in exactly the same predicament just had a Stent put in and the Price of Insurance skyrocketed he says, I may pass on this latest info you have posted on to him , he might even join Probus even just to get some reasonable priced insurance, thanks for the info .Good luck on your trip.

 

[Major]

I am never quite sure what a pre- existing heart condition is. Many years ago my BP was very high and have taken a daily Diovan pill for decades. My BP is about 128/74 and an echo stress test this year showed no problems.

Do I have a pre-existing heart condition ?

I still don't know the answer to that regarding travel insurance.