What is Pre-Existing Medical Condition in Travel Insurance
Learn how pre-existing medical conditions impact your travel insurance coverage and help you to get protection against unexpected events during your trip.
What is a Pre-existing Medical Condition?
A pre-existing medical condition is a health condition that existed before the effective date of your travel insurance policy. This can include any medical conditions for which you have received medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment, including chronic conditions, illnesses, or injuries.
When purchasing travel insurance, it's important to review your travel insurance policy carefully and understand any pre-existing medical condition exclusions or limitations before you purchase the policy to ensure that you have the coverage you need while traveling. Some insurance companies may exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions, while others may offer limited coverage or require additional fees or medical evaluations.
Additionally, some travel insurance companies may require you to disclose any pre-existing medical conditions that you have. They can ask for your medical bills and the history you have if you need to seek treatment or medical evacuation during your trip.
To get the travel insurance for pre-existing conditions, check if your insurer provides waivers. If you purchase travel insurance for a pre-existing medical condition within a certain time frame after booking your trip, you might get waiver options. You should also be aware of the look-back period, as it may affect your eligibility for coverage.
Pre-existing Medical Conditions Covered in Travel Insurance
The most common pre-existing medical conditions in travel insurance are diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, and mental health conditions. Each of these conditions is considered higher risk by insurers and will have specific exclusions or higher premiums.
For example, diabetics especially insulin-dependent diabetics, will be asked to provide documentation of well-managed blood sugar levels and no recent hospitalization. Heart disease whether it’s coronary artery disease or a history of heart attacks, will require a pre-existing condition waiver for coverage. Without a waiver, any heart-related issues during travel will be excluded from coverage.
How each condition will affect your travel insurance policy will depend on the severity and the insurer’s guidelines. For example, asthma will have less impact if it’s well managed and no recent emergency care, and mental health conditions like depression or anxiety will have exclusions if treatment or medication has changed recently. Generally, travel insurers will look at the stability of your condition during the “look back” period, which is the period before your policy start date, to determine eligibility for coverage or waivers.
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