Travel Insurance for those with preexisting medical conditions.

[Garywf]

Not sure whether it is appropriate to ask a question about travel insurance in this forum but I'll give it a go. I am in Australia & in June will be travelling to the USA on holiday for a month. Of course, travel insurance is an expensive matter for those with preexisting medical conditions.

I would be interested to learn of other peoples experiences when they tried to obtain suitable cover for Sick Sinus Syndrome (AF) & hypertension.

[Hidden]

Garywf - you take out that Insurance however the companies will not in any way insure you for preexisting complaints. I know, last year we traveled around the States and Canada we took out insurance before my husband was diagnosed with a huge blood clot in his leg, the local doc told him to still go, 1 because we took the insurance out prior to the clot and 2nd because he would never tell a patient not to do something this late in life, you never know when your going to fall off the perch :), my husband now has a 2nd clot in the same leg and again we are hitting the road for 4 weeks doing the States England and Finland, this time we know we are not covered for clot and AF but everything else is covered. You dont take cover for what you have got, you only cover yourself for what you dont have and look after the other as best you can, it is all doable, Virgin Money has a good comprehensive cover for a couple at about 246 for us for the month. Hope it helps. Sue from Oz

[Garywf in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for sharing your expetience Sue, I will.have a look at Virgin Money.

[Hidden]

We have annual travel insurance with SAGA which they say covers pre-existing conditions, including AF. They will not provide cover if you are waiting for results of something potentially nasty/expensive.

Koll

PS. My insurance is for Europe only, the quote to include USA and Canada was VERY expensive.

[Garywf in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Koll, I'll check SAGA out. My current quote for my wife & myself is over $1k which is a bit scary.

[Hidden in reply to Garywf]

Yikes!

[CDreamer]

In the UK SSN is almost impossible to cover in the US especially if you are over 80 as my husband is which is really difficult as he has many business interests in the US! We were quoted nothing less than £900+ for a 2 week trip and no one will look at annual, multi trip.

[Garywf in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks for your reply. I will be 68 when we travel & I understand that the premium takes a hike after I turn 70.

[Hidden]

we use good to go europe reasonable not sure about further afield x

[Garywf in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, I'll check them out.

[Hidden]

Staysure insured me including cover for AF at a very reasonable price. I believe there's a list of insurers on the AFA website somewhere...

Lis

[Garywf in reply to Hidden]

Another possibility, thank you.

[Bagrat]

We have used flexicover in the past and they have paid out several times for various things some what slowly last time when my OH had af diagnosed in Canaries. We have now changed to a broker on line All Clear Travel.

But have never claimed from them.. who covered my husband's 6 declarable conditions and my AF. Must admit we are sticking to Europe these days to keep costs down

[Garywf in reply to Bagrat]

Thank you.

[weezergeezer]

Garywf, not sure if this answers your question, but I found that when I was diagnosed with Af, I had travel insurance in place with some 6 moths to run, so there were no issues except I had to declare the condition, there was an excess added, if I needed any treatment associated with the Af, I would pay that, When my insurance expired I was on a waiting list for ablation, I could not get the travel insurance renewed until 6 weeks after the treatment , again with an excess, your circumstance’s are different from mine so bear this in mind……Travel insurance doesn’t have to be expensive it all depends on the risk, and the insurance company, they are not all equal, I’m insured along with my wife for worldwide gold coverage for under £100 GBP, for a year for the both of us,

it goes without saying shop around…..…..good luck

[Garywf in reply to weezergeezer]

Thanks

[Bloodredroses in reply to weezergeezer]

W what Co you buy Travl Insyrance Gold £ 100 p a from? Please

[Offcut]

My best advice is shop around as there is a huge difference in costs for the same cover. I saved £160.00 on what the package operator offered.

[mumknowsbest Volunteer]

I insured with BUPA To go to Australia and NZ from UK,it would have cost me extra for USA but not as much as I expected. It has just gone up a bit cos I have had a birthday but still quite reasonable

[Garywf in reply to mumknowsbest]

I'll have a look online, thanks

[excalibur]

I use a specialist broker that insures pre-existing conditions - able2travel.com/.

They will always cover you providing you are not waiting for a procedure. You go through a telephone interview where they ask about conditions and the number of drugs you are on and then come up with a premium depending on these.

But USA is going to be expensive whoever you go with if you want cover for existing conditions

[Garywf in reply to excalibur]

Thanks.

[PhyllisK]

Hi Garywf, if you do decide to take out travel insurance do look at the 'excess' rates offered, sometimes you may have to pay more for your insurance but if you do have to cancel same, you will get all of your money back (hopefully). I have had to cancel my holidays twice in the last 8 months and the excess has cost me dearly.

[Garywf in reply to PhyllisK]

Thanks.

[AFAssociation1]

Hi Garywf

You might be able to get cover through Health Partners healthpartners.com.au .

Apparently they may often cover those who usually aren't able to receive cover and at quite a reasonable price also.

[Garywf in reply to AFAssociation1]

Thanks for that I will give them a try.