Trying to get travel insurance and when asked about medication I am having difficulties.
I am on Acalabrutinib (monoclonal antibody as I understand it) but I am offered answers of Chemotherapy or Immunotherapy to choose from. This is further complicated by the fact that I am also on Trastuzumab (another monoclonal antibody for breast cancer).
How do I get round this? What do I say?
While on the subject- does anyone know whether saying you are on Statins (high cholesterol) helps with getting travel insurance or not. I have been given the option of starting Statins or not by GP - it’s up to me.
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camper2
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Hi Camper2, I did post a while ago that I was able to get reasonable travel insurance whilst on Venetoclax. They are called Insuracewith and ask specifically what medication you are taking rather than assuming you are on chemo.
I was just coming onto this thread to say the same!
I am going to the states for 2 weeks next month, and started looking at insurance.. was horrified to see quotes ranging from £2,900 to £6,800.
Came across insurance with.com and whilst they fGo into a lot of detail about your tablets and blood levels, received a quote for £248 for myself (and my wife, who is “normal”).
Most companies s’emmêla to see “Leukaemia” and add a massive loading without asking exactly what type of Leukaemia you have..
Not sure if you’ve booked for a single trip but what I found was if you go for the yearly insurance it isn’t that much more expensive than a single trip. I got a years worldwide insurance for £228 and used it about 5 times, which included 3 trips to the states 😊
I suggest you answer the question as immunotherapy. Or if the words "targeted treatment" are mentioned - choose that option. These are milder more modern treatments that primarily attack cancer cells.
Chemotherapy (a broad powerful poison in closely controlled doses that kill all fast growing cells) is not used to treat CLL / SLL in modern medical practices.
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And BTW acalabrutinib / Calquence is NOT a monoclonal antibody, it is a BTKi (Bruton Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor) a targeted treatment, that blocks a signal encouraging CLL cancer cells to survive and multiply.
good morning, I am planning a trip to South Africa and have just received quotes from Staysure & Avanti based on several health conditions including CLL- taking ibrutinib & Venetoclax. It's important to disclose all conditions honestly otherwise cover may be invalid. Good luck
I’ve also just had a quote from Insurancewith based on having CLL and a second cancer diagnosis. I couldn’t do the application on line but had a very helpful phone call to talk through the application details. I’d certainly recommend them based on experience so far.
HiI have no issues getting travel insurance, declare you conditions and treatments, pay about £700 a year for EU travel. Have also had reasonable quotes for Oz and USA
there are some good providers out there. Try AllClear and Paytoomuch.com. Those will ask age at diagnosis, and if you are on treatment. Unless you are not recommended to travel by your doctors, you will get a policy. Cost will be determined by your condition and if you are on treatment. Expect to pay 200-600 for an annual policy.
Doubt statins would make a difference to the insurance company. Trastuzumab is an immunotherapy. Acalabrutinib is a targeted therapy. Depending on how you define it, it is or isn't chemo, so either answer is up to you. I use InsureMyTrip.com and they don't medical questions. Some companies will waive pre-existing conditions you buy the insurance soon after booking the trip.
This is a post I did some years ago suggesting insurance companies to try. I personally use StaySure and the one thing I’ve found with U.K. companies is that if you fail to disclose any pre-existing condition, they’ll invalidate the whole claim should you be unfortunate enough to have to make one. I’ve also never known a company to waive pre-existing conditions at any stage. The most they’ll do is agree to exclude a certain condition but in truth that can also make any claim worthless. An example is they agree to exclude the CLL and you then need to be repatriated with a severe pneumonia. I suspect they’d simply attribute the infection to the CLL which wasn’t covered so invalid claim.
Insurance companies are nervous about anything unresolved. My husband had just undergone a triple heart by-pass last time I renewed our travel policy. I swear they were less interested in that because it was resolved than a very minor issue he was waiting to see a specialist about which ironically was statins. The important thing is not to give them the impression anything is pending or unresolved. They don’t like suprises! 🙄
Also remember to obtain a GHIC card if you intend to travel in Europe.
It won’t cover repatriation but it can give you access to local, public healthcare. Some private insurance companies insist on it before they’ll insure.
Give one of those companies a try and good luck. I find I have to make more than an hour available when I’m exploring travel insurance.
The charity Blood Cancer UK have a partnership with Staysure and they make a donation to blood cancer UK for every policy sold.
I tried it online yesterday and it seems very straightforward compared to every other time we have tried to get travel insurance. I’d also like to think that Blood Cancer UK may have educated Staysure about blood cancers.
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