Just developed a pre-exisiting condition 21 days out

[dreameral]

We are cruising in three weeks and my wife was diagnosed with high blood pressure and started meds. It's fine now but I'm not sure our normal visa will cover this condition. Can someone walk me through plans with that cover pre-existing conditions. I went to insuremyttrip canada and found one that had a 7 day look back, but the medicine/drugs are reimbursed. Is high blood pressure a pre-existing condition only if she has a issue with cadio-puliminary emergency or would our normal visa cover other issues like falls, breaks etc.

[Host Caroline]

We are cruising in three weeks and my wife was diagnosed with high blood pressure and started meds. It's fine now but I'm not sure our normal visa will cover this condition. Can someone walk me through plans with that cover pre-existing conditions. I went to insuremyttrip canada and found one that had a 7 day look back, but the medicine/drugs are reimbursed. Is high blood pressure a pre-existing condition only if she has a issue with cadio-puliminary emergency or would our normal visa cover other issues like falls, breaks etc.

 

Not familiar with the term "visa"? :o as relates to insurance.

 

Do you already have trip insurance? If your purchased it at the time of deposit or when you made final payment and your wife was just diagnosed with the high BP, this is not a condition that "pre-existed" prior to your purchasing the insurance so under all travel insurance that I've ever used at least, the condition would be covered.

 

"Pre-existing" generally refers to a condition that the individual has or has had in the past at the time the cruise is booked i.e. if she had a cardiac condition when you booked the cruise, you'd need to purchase insurance that covered the condition within 7-21 days of making your deposit (# of days varies by company).

 

Does that help?

[foureyedbuzzard]

Millions of us have high blood pressure. She'll be fine. Enjoy your cruise.

[dreameral]

Not familiar with the term "visa"? :o as relates to insurance.

 

Do you already have trip insurance? If your purchased it at the time of deposit or when you made final payment and your wife was just diagnosed with the high BP, this is not a condition that "pre-existed" prior to your purchasing the insurance so under all travel insurance that I've ever used at least, the condition would be covered.

 

"Pre-existing" generally refers to a condition that the individual has or has had in the past at the time the cruise is booked i.e. if she had a cardiac condition when you booked the cruise, you'd need to purchase insurance that covered the condition within 7-21 days of making your deposit (# of days varies by company).

 

Does that help?

 

Sorry, I should have made that more clear. I have insurance with our Visa credit card and used that when I booked the trip. I'll contact Visa and see.

[cherylandtk]

Dreameral,

Look at this thread re: credit card travel insurance. Depending on which coverage you have, you may or may not be covered for medical or cancellation protection. As cruiseco says, it depends on your policy.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1170313

 

Purchasing a new trip insurance policy now would mean that the HBP is a pre-existing condition and thus omit coverage of any illness caused by the HBP, but anything new and unrelated would be covered. You are too late to purchase coverage that waives pre-existing exclusions.

 

In the future, you will need to purchase a policy within the limits defined by that policy - usually 14 days after deposit but as late as final payment on some.

[Host Caroline]

Duh.. I should have guessed "Visa" card ... agree with above poster.. the insurance that credit cards provide generally isn't adequate at least for me... I like to know that if anything happens I will be covered!

[cruiseco]

Duh.. I should have guessed "Visa" card ... agree with above poster.. the insurance that credit cards provide generally isn't adequate at least for me... I like to know that if anything happens I will be covered!

 

The insurance that sometimes comes with credit cards issued by Canadian banks is way different from what's available in the US. Down here there are all sorts of insurance regulations -- which can vary from state to state -- that sometimes prohibit packing in the types of coverages that Canadian credit cards can offer. Even then, the coverages will vary by issuing bank and the level of card -- Gold, Platinum, etc.

 

Best advice is to contact the credit card company to find out what insurer is providing the coverage then call them directly to find out what's covered and what isn't in this instance.

 

One complication that can be a problem with some non-US insurers is that they will sometimes determine whether a condition is pre-existing or not by when the condition began, not when it was diagnosed. So they might say that the high blood pressure existed when the cruise was booked (which it probably did) even though not diagnosed until just now. UK-based insurers are brutal about that and some Canada-based insurers follow the UK industry lead on these things. You can't get away with that down here.