Chronic Condition verses Acute Condition

Chronic conditions are defined as “a disease, illness or injury that has no known cure and/or is likely to continue.” Good examples of chronic conditions include asthma, diabetes and heart conditions. Chronic Conditions are very important in medical insurance since once you have been diagnosed with a Chronic Conditions you are likely to need treatment for the rest of your life. It is therefore important to make sure you have medical insurance before you become ill.

Not all medical plans cover Chronic Conditions in full so it is important to check the details. Some plans will limit the cover to the ‘Acute Phases’ of the condition while excluding the palliative treatment. Other plans may place an annual or lifetime limit on the cover. If your expat medical plan covers Chronic Conditions in full it is likely to be more expensive.

It is recommended that if you are older you certainly look at buying an expat medical plan that fully covers chronic conditions as treatment for them will be ongoing and potentially very expensive.

Our consultants can advise you on insurers that provide full cover, limited cover or completely exclude chronic conditions. Please contact an advisor and they will be happy to provide you with a range of quotes for your expat medical plan.

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Recent Questions/Comments:

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2008-01-07 22:52:58

Hi, My mom will be coming from north africa to visit me in the USA and stay for acouple of weeks. Recently she has been having a heavy hand and legs feeling. She has been prescribed a medication that is usualy prescribed for patients with mild parkinson's. I would like to get some second opinion and test(scans) performed on her in the USA. I don't think that she has parkinson's and I would like to confirn this in a center/hospital that I trust. My mom has an inssurance coverage with mutuelle Maroc,which is a partner with SwissLife and AXA. I wonder if she can get an international coverage with your company that will covers specialist evaluation, MRI, and oether scans if necessary. Thank you

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2007-12-19 00:42:05

Hi, We (Doanldson Europe BVBA in Belgium) are looking for a hosptal & medical insurance for one of our families (family van den Enden) we are relocating to Brockville, Canada. Up till now we haven't found an insurance compay willing to cover the pre-existing condition of Mrs. van den Enden which is bronchial asthma. Would you be able to offer us a solution with an insurance who is willing to cover also the pre-existing condition. Thanks in advance for your reply, Veerle Matthijs

Questions and Comments about this Page:

Jack Gilbert:

2007-06-01 10:01:31

Question: My son is 23 years old and a full-time college student. He has type 1 diabetes and other than that is in excellent health. What programs and coverages do you have available for him and what would be the annual cost? Thanks, Jack Gilbert

Answer: In terms of coverage options for people with diabetes we are limited in the plans that we can offer. Many insurance companies will exclude pre-existing conditions from coverage, and will commonly label diabetes as a per-existing condition. There are cases where we can obtain coverage for non insulin dependant (or type 2) diabetes, but this coverage will usually be subject to a number of policy conditions. There are options that we can look at for obtaining coverage for a type one diabetic, however, it is important to keep in mind that this condition may be excluded from coverage.

Edited: 2007-06-01 19:16:51

Lisa:

2007-04-01 04:07:19

Question: Is a kidney transplant considered Chronic? Is it possible to have a kidney transplant patient covered by your company?

Answer: In most cases Kidney diseases are considered to be chronic. If the disease has been diagnosed before entering a plan then it is also deemed to be pre-existing.

Edited: 2007-04-02 19:08:09