Travel Insurance and CVD?

[bazzaw]

CVD= Cardio Vascular Disease.

 

There are few people over a young age that do not have CVD - it is just that they do not know it and also those that do, it is a matter of degree.

 

I have always had high cholesterol - and Doctors have wanted me to take Statin drugs. I am fit and have no other heart disease risk factors apart from the cholesterol. Anyway, I decided to have a Calcium Score test - a CT test that determines how much "gunk" you have inside your arteries. Almost everybody of a more mature age will have some degree of buildup. It was discovered that I have a "mild to moderate" buildup and this has now convinced me that I had better go onto the statins . I will have a treadmill test next week to see if this buildup is of actual concern to warrant further intervention.

 

Anyway - back to travel insurance. I guess it could now be said that I have asymptotic CVD - ie symptom-less heart disease. -- and reading my usual travel insurance companies terms and conditions, they basically say that they don't want to know anything about CVD and/or people with it:) Now that I have voluntarily had my Doctor make investigations, I cannot say that I don't know about it :)

 

I am certain that there will be many here who have some degree of CVD - and either know it or don't know it -- so how has it affected your ability to get travel insurance??

[Russell21]

I've just insured for our next cruise with Insure & Go, which will be the third time I've insured with them.

My wife has some problems including 2 artificial knees, and I have a cardiac stent, cholesterol, blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

My wife gets covered at normal rate and there is a loading of $60 for me, giving a total for a 14 night cruise to Fiji of $269.73 with a $200.00 excess for their Silver cover. I'm 72, wife 68.

Hope this helps.

[Beanb41]

There are travel insurance companies who will cover for existing conditions on payment of an extra premium. You will need to check around because no two companies have the same rules. If you are aware of a medical condition that you have or may have and have failed to declare it to the insurance company and something occurs that could be in anyway related to that condition no matter how small you run the risk of having your medical component voided. There are anedcdotal evidence all over the internet where a medical condition not disclosed has cost the insured thousands and thousands of dollars because the insurance company refused to accept the claim. The fact that you are discussing this matter here indicates to me that it should be disclosed to the insurance company. Some conditions an insurance company will not cover, thus the insured carries the risk that something wont happen. Trying to be clever and avoiding disclosing a condition is in my opinion foolish.

[Aus Traveller]

There are travel insurance companies who will cover for existing conditions on payment of an extra premium. You will need to check around because no two companies have the same rules. If you are aware of a medical condition that you have or may have and have failed to declare it to the insurance company and something occurs that could be in anyway related to that condition no matter how small you run the risk of having your medical component voided. There are anedcdotal evidence all over the internet where a medical condition not disclosed has cost the insured thousands and thousands of dollars because the insurance company refused to accept the claim. The fact that you are discussing this matter here indicates to me that it should be disclosed to the insurance company. Some conditions an insurance company will not cover, thus the insured carries the risk that something wont happen. Trying to be clever and avoiding disclosing a condition is in my opinion foolish.

The way I read the OP is that he is now aware he has CVD so he will have to declare it to his insurer. He does not intend to hide it. His question related to getting insurance with this pre-existing condition. He was probably also trying to alert people to the fact that they may have asymptotic heart disease.

 

In our experience, once a person reaches 71, the insurance premium goes up dramatically. We buy an annual policy with TID, and the cost of this policy (for the two of us) almost doubled when one reached the magic milestone of 71. Why 71 and not 70? All I can think is that it means the person if over 70. By the way, this is not related to a pre-existing condition.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Aus Traveller

[cruisine21]

My dad is 89 and he has had a heart bypass and stents. He got insurance with Covermore. I was diagnosed with high chloresterol and Type 2 Diabetes in March and its under control with statins. I tried to get insurance with TID but they wouldn't cover me.

[joybook]

Forget Covermore if you are going anywhere within 1,000 ks of the USA. Try InsureandGo - I have been happy with them covering pre-existing conditions.:)

[bazzaw]

Forget Covermore if you are going anywhere within 1,000 ks of the USA. Try InsureandGo - I have been happy with them covering pre-existing conditions.:)

 

I just did a "pretend" application to Covermore - as they do seem to cover my particular pre-existing. I did notice that a trip to the US costs almost 50% more than a trip to the UK - probably because of horrendous US medical costs??

 

Anyway - why have you said to avoid Covermore for cover in the US???

[bazzaw]

My dad is 89 and he has had a heart bypass and stents. He got insurance with Covermore. I was diagnosed with high chloresterol and Type 2 Diabetes in March and its under control with statins. I tried to get insurance with TID but they wouldn't cover me.

 

Covermore seems to have a reasonably easy "system" to assess whether they will cover you for a pre-existing. Just tell them that you need pre-existing cover in the online application and a list of "diseases" will popup - select yours (in my case atherosclerosis) and they will ask further questions and make an immediate decision online.

 

Considering that I am not overweight, no high blood pressure, no this and no that and fit as a fiddle running two 21 klm Half Marathons in the past 12 months, this discover of my Artherosclerosis is a bit annoying and disappointing. Oh well, got to die of something sometime I guess - better to die of a heart attack out on the road than in a cancer ward!! :(

[joybook]

Bazzaw. I had some relatively mild pre-existing conditions and actually discussed the USA cover situation with one of Covermore's reps at a travel expo - they would not cover me at all because I was going to the US even just for a few days because of pre-existing conditions. Now I will say that was a year or so ago and maybe they have changed a few things but I have not used them since. Yes I pay a premium for my cover to be with InsureandGo but at least I am covered. I suggest you be very careful with Covermore. This is just my exprience with them.:)

[Pushka]

Insureandgo website is very easy to check for cover. Just make sure you select the Cruise cover and not just the land insurance.

[GCHAN]

Insureandgo website is very easy to check for cover. Just make sure you select the Cruise cover and not just the land insurance.

Does anybody have any experience of claims from Insureandgo?

[possum52]

Does anybody have any experience of claims from Insureandgo?[/quote

 

My husband had to have a procedure on his big toe after stubbing it when we were on Diamond Princess two years ago. We were insured with InsureandGo and the claim process was relatively easy, we were reimbursed within a couple of weeks.

 

We have insured with them since but haven't had to make another claim.

 

 

Leigh

[GCHAN]

thanks

[happysnapper]

High cholesterol does not mean you have "cardiovascular disease", but it certainly can lead to CVD or cause a stroke or numerous other serious health problems. CVD can be also caused by high blood pressure, smoking, being overweigh, and so forth. If the insurance company asks if you have high cholesterol you have to say yes. This is then taken into account when they do a risk assessment. You don't tick cardiovascular disease if you have never ever had any cardiac symptoms or been diagnosed with cardiac problems in the past. The question pertains only to pre-existing diseases, that is - identified health issues that have been diagnosed, or under investigation, and have been or are being treated.

Edited August 9, 2017 by happysnapper