What is the level of health cover that you have?
A pertinent fact is that depending on the level of health insurance cover you have you could be covered for hospitalization that may arise from serious illness, accident or injury. The cover may also include dental treatment, maternity care and outpatient care.
A Pre-existing Chronic Condition
If you have a pre-existing chronic condition such as hypertension, heart disease, hearing impairments, orthopedic conditions, etc then it helps to know that most policies will exclude any pre-existing and congenital conditions for a period ranging from 2-5 years before the member joined cover. Chronic conditions are generally not payable.
Having said that, most policies will cover the cost for treatments that may be required to stabilize the health condition of the insured.
Some insurers may agree to cover pre-existing conditions depending on the terms and conditions of your policy document. The list of exclusions changes from time to time- this largely depends on the evolution of new technologies which in turn affect the cost of medical treatment.
Developing a Chronic Condition Later
If you develop a chronic condition after you sign up for cover and if you are on a group plan then inclusion of such a condition would be subject to verification on individual policies. For some covers there might be exclusions in the future or an additional charge to cover the condition.
Policy Exclusions
Policy exclusions are another important consideration. These exclusions may be general or specific. General exclusions in your policy apply to you and your dependents. Specific exclusions apply to specific individuals only and usually are the results of a pre-existing condition, e.g. you may be excluded for treatment for heart disease because you had this before you joined cover.
Common Exclusions in Health Insurance
Here is a list of common exclusions found in most international health and medical insurance policies and covers:
• Congenital conditions
• Obesity
• Addictive and mental conditions and disorders (however some insurers might cover treatment for such conditions on a discretionary basis)
• Allergies and allergic conditions
• Artificial life maintenance (life support systems)
• Birth control (assisted reproduction, contraception, abortion, sterilization, etc)
• Medical conditions arising out of conflict and disaster (where the need for treatment arises out of war, disasters such as floods, earthquakes and nuclear or chemical contamination, etc)
• Cosmetic and plastic surgery (except in cases where it is administered immediately after an accident or disease, e.g. breast reconstruction after mastectomy and sometimes lumpectomy which can take place simultaneously during cancer-removing surgery, or subsequently after some months or years)
Standard plans also provide cover for the treatment of cancer. Oncology, which is treatment for cancer, including diagnosis, therapy (radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery, etc) is usually a part of standard health cover.
More Expat Resources
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