Travel to the US

[Kacyjones]

Reading the online details of American companies providing travel/medical insurance for visitors there is a common option :- " ..coverage for a sudden /acute onset of a preexisting condition...."

Chronic diseases are excluded

As I read, chronic afib is permanent afib? So with paroxysmal afib you should be insured?

Has anyone been down this path?

Thanks,

[mjames1]

I would check your insurance company to be sure.

Jim

[BobD Volunteer]

Afib is Afib. It makes no difference if it is persistant or paroxysmal. It is a chronic condition rather than a disease and as such can return or strike at any time needing treatment. Don't even think of not declaring it or you could end up in real trouble financially.

[Kacyjones in reply to BobD]

Yes Bob I understand what you are saying, and that was my take initially. Since looking up the "definition of chronic afib " a lot of reputable medical sites equate chronic with permanent. Hence the wishful question

[mjames1 in reply to Kacyjones]

Again, you are just guessing. The way we use terms and the way the insurance company uses them may be different. Just call the insurance and find out if your condition is covered and if you're still unsure, ask them to put it in writing.

Jim

[Kacyjones in reply to mjames1]

I agree, trouble is on the FAQ pages they say they cannot respond to a " what if" question. In a sensible world you should get a straight answer, not "it depends ". ....

[mjames1 in reply to Kacyjones]

I know that at least in the US, a good travel agent should be able to guide you to the right policy. If that doesn't work, just try different insurance companies until you get a straight answer. There are many insurance companies in the US that offer travel insurance. For something like afib, you may have to pay a little extra if I remember what a relative once told me.

Jim

[LadyLawson in reply to Kacyjones]

Just give them a call and explain. I recently travelled to the US from the Uk having explained about my paroxysmal Afib. It wasn’t expensive to get the insurance.

[Kacyjones in reply to LadyLawson]

Thanks LadyLawson, unfortunately I do not live in the UK.

[Hidden]

I think a lot of people fall into the trap of thinking that good travel insurance is determined by the best price for which you can get cover. The truth is that no one knows how good their travel insurance is until they are unfortunate enough to make a claim. One things for sure, if they can find out a way to wriggle out of coughing up they will so don’t make it easy for them………

[Kacyjones in reply to Hidden]

Hi FJ, I have done a lot of travelling but it's only in the past few years has insurance become so important for me with advancing age and a few issues. I hate the process of searching and evaluating. Most of the 5 star reviews are based on the price and how easy it was to buy, so stupid. Then you start digging, am i eligible to buy, what do they really promise, do they actually pay?

I will spend many many hours/days looking at options and at the end of the day may still feel its a lottery, it should not be so hard!

[Buffafly in reply to Kacyjones]

Have you asked a travel agent?

[Kacyjones in reply to Buffafly]

Thanks Bufafly but that's not really an option .

[Jalia]

You need to declare everything ! Failure to do so would almost certainly invalidate your policy. As one who has had to make 2 claims on travel insurance I know that they go through your medical record at GP surgery with a fine tooth comb !

[Kacyjones in reply to Jalia]

Hi JaliaYes they will do everything possible to wriggle out of paying. Most companies engage third parties to handle the dirty work, and their income is directly determined by the claim ratio.

Did you get paid, what was the company?

Thanks!

[Jalia in reply to Kacyjones]

I think the insurance companies were Staysure and AllClear. I had no problem getting paid. Both claims were AF related. Latterly I've found Saga very good to deal with.

My last attempt to get to the US, some years ago now and admittedly on a cruise ship , required an insurance premium in excess of 3k !! (I didn't go !!)

[Kacyjones in reply to Jalia]

Thanks Jalia.

[Buffafly in reply to Jalia]

Staysure has a very good reputation - I was trying to remember the name, thanks Jalia, also heard good reports of the other two.

[mjames1]

This company in the UK says they cover it.

From their website:

"Atrial fibrillation is a pre-existing medical condition, so you can get travel insurance to cover it. In fact, it’s important that you cover any pre-existing medical condition you have, and atrial fibrillation is no exception."

staysure.co.uk/medical-trav...

[Kacyjones in reply to mjames1]

Thanks for that Jim, unfortunately we fail at the first hurdle, we are not resident in the UK , that's why I gravitated to the US based companies catering for visitors. The local providers only do simple insurance, there are a couple of odd EU wide companies but their claims reviews are horrendous. Cheers

[oscarfox49]

The difficulty with this is that 'permanent AF' and 'paroxysmal AF', not to mention 'persistent AF' are very much shifting sands and the opinions of one cardiologist or GP at one time (often on the basis of a 2 minute ECG). I think insurance companies are very wary of this as they never want to get into any commitment that might cost them money!

[Kacyjones in reply to oscarfox49]

Yes it's all down to semantics isn't it. It confuses me when reading articles about people with afib, are they talking about someone who's heart is malfunctioning at the present or are they talking about anyone that has had an episode even years ago? To my mind there should be different terminology. Agreed about the insurance companies! Just read your post about anxiety, will respond to that!