International Health Insurance And Pre-existing Conditions

[Tyke]

Hi,

I am a retired expat living in BKK and rapidly approaching the dangerous age of 60 and perplexed as to where the other 59 went. I have recently had a full health check-up and apart from a few small issues, was diagnosed with 'equivocal' heart disease on the basis of ECG and stress test. This means that one of the indicators in the tests was borderline, not necessarily that I have heart disease.

I currently do not have any health insurance and am confident that, if the worse came to the worse, I could be able to pay for any major hospital treatment needed. But I would really like to have international medical cover to be fully secure so i could choose to have medical treatment anywhere in the world.

What I need to know is - would such 'equivocal' results mean most major providers would not provide cover for heart disease?

My dilemma is that if I reveal the test results to one provider now, then it is unlikely I would ever get cover, even for travel insurance to cover it again, as these insurance companies share their information.

Or should I not reveal the condition and get insurance in the hope that they never find out - of course the risk here is that if they do find out when i need treatment then all the annual premiums would be wasted. Any advice please, preferably based on experience?

[Martian]

I had a friend run into the same quandary here in the US. He lost his job and thus his group coverage. When he went shopping for personal health coverage, what he thought was a simple health issue supposedly disqualified him from coverage. He shopped various companies and plans and found a temporary one that was vague about pre-existing conditions and went with it. He is risking maybe not having coverage for that certain condition but hopefully if something non-related pops up, he'll be covered...who knows.

Some "travel medical" plans exclude only those conditions that you received advise or care for in the 6 months (some 3 months) preceding your travel. Most can only cover for up to 6 months but it would be a start. You're only other choices are to not disclose the test and hope it isn't found and if so isn't "material" or give some agents an informal call and discuss it...using an alias if you have to. You might not qualify for a travel medical plan since you are already there.

If your tests indicate pretty good health and you have funds stashed away, given the low cost of health care in Thailand (comparatively) you might just want to self insure.

Regards

[ThaivisaInsurance]

Hi,

I am a retired expat living in BKK and rapidly approaching the dangerous age of 60 and perplexed as to where the other 59 went. I have recently had a full health check-up and apart from a few small issues, was diagnosed with 'equivocal' heart disease on the basis of ECG and stress test. This means that one of the indicators in the tests was borderline, not necessarily that I have heart disease.

I currently do not have any health insurance and am confident that, if the worse came to the worse, I could be able to pay for any major hospital treatment needed. But I would really like to have international medical cover to be fully secure so i could choose to have medical treatment anywhere in the world.

What I need to know is - would such 'equivocal' results mean most major providers would not provide cover for heart disease?

My dilemma is that if I reveal the test results to one provider now, then it is unlikely I would ever get cover, even for travel insurance to cover it again, as these insurance companies share their information.

Or should I not reveal the condition and get insurance in the hope that they never find out - of course the risk here is that if they do find out when i need treatment then all the annual premiums would be wasted. Any advice please, preferably based on experience?

Tyke

A dilemma we understand. As this could get personal may we suggest you contact us direct at Thai Visa Insurance in order for us to be able to help you ?

Please email : [email protected]