Introduction:
With increasingly high healthcare costs, treatment of a major disease has become expensive. You should not spend savings to pay for your health care since this can risk your financial stability and may not allow you to spend more time to get the best health care possible. In fact, it will pay to have health insurance coverage to help you be protected from these medical expenses.
Any existing conditions at the time of purchasing a health plan should be declared to the insurance company. A pre-existing condition refers to any health condition or illness that existed before the start date of your health insurance policy. In this article, we will explain what pre-existing conditions are and how they impact your health plan.
Pre-existing Conditions:
Pre-existing diseases are defined as the health conditions or illnesses that you may be suffering from the period, before you begin your insurance policy. Their nature may range from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer to other diseases such as asthma, allergies, and high blood pressure among many more. In purchasing a health insurance policy for pre-existing diseases, it is important that such conditions be disclosed to the insurer. It helps one to be able to estimate the risk proper and the terms the policy would be set with, that is coverage limits and exclusions.
Disclosure of pre-existing conditions:
Why?
A very important aspect while filling up the application form for health insurance is disclosure of any pre-existing condition. Without complete information about any pre-existing conditions, your claim might be rejected or even your policy may be cancelled. Basically, to weigh the risks for providing coverage, insurance companies must know about any pre-existing conditions. The cost of your policy, coverage limits, and exclusions would be affected by any pre-existing conditions you may have.
When?
Pre-existing conditions have to be disclosed on application for health cover. In most application forms, it is now general for applicants to declare pre-existing conditions. In a few cases, the insurance company has to carry out a medical check or review of the applicant’s medical record to establish pre-existing conditions.
Normally, you will also be required to report changes that happened during the term of policy. These changes will include new diagnoses, changing medications, hospitalizations, or surgeries. Your claim may also be denied for a policy in case you fail to report any change in your health status.
Steps to apply for health insurance for pre-existing condition:
The process of submitting the application for pre-existing condition insurance includes the following:
First of all, any and every existing disease at the time of filling up the application form, are to be disclosed.
Be ready for their inquiries and provide them with the necessary information or documents. keep in mind, some insurers may require a medical exam or review of your medical records. it is equally crucial to compare various health insurance policies and come up with the one that best suits your needs.
Provide policies that start to cover pre-existing conditions after a specified waiting period, and may have any exclusions or higher premiums
Understanding terms and conditions should therefore be a stepping stone to an extremely informed decision.
Impact of Pre-existing conditions insurance premium:
One of the primary factors that can significantly impact your health insurance premium is existing conditions. Usually, an insurance provider keeps a waiting period before covering these conditions, which can vary from 1 to 3 years. Secondly, the presence of existing conditions will surely make you pay more because it raises the risk for the insurance provider. Hence, make sure you analyse the policy documents and know how your existing conditions would affect your coverage and cost. Disclosure of health conditions would make claim settlements much smoother without cancellations of the policy.
Conclusion:
An existing condition is a factor that one should consider while applying for health insurance. Therefore, a patient should disclose any existing conditions to the health insurance company. He needs to be honest and upfront about changes in his health status during the policy term in case of any claim compensation. You can also clear up further doubts about the policy, be it the cost, waiting period, or the list of pre-existing conditions covered by the health insurance policy through an insurance agent.