Pre-existing condition - a cautionary tale

[Tony F Dordogne]

I use the internet to chat to people across the world about the medical condition that I have and the otherkjmopls which are seen by medics as being linked, associated, similar, and which are usually called MPDs.

There have always been problems in the USA for people with this sort of condition because it's so expensive to treat there (and here come to that) especially for the chemo type meds that people need.

The latest US insurance whizz-bang idea is that for people with my condition in particular, you can't get insurance to cover it because you've had it from birth - it's always been a pre-existing condition, just undiagnosed.  And all that flows from the underlying condition, gout, deep vein pruritis, asthma (caused by the treatment) and hypertension, which we all have with my condition it's what usually kills us indirectly through strokes or heart-attacks caused by the condition of the blood, means they all get excluded as well.

Now my condition isn't hereditary though there is now some evidence that in some people it may be, but it is genetic for sure.  So if you filled in a form and were asked specific questions about your family's health, you would truthfully answer that there wasn't a problem but there would be, just undiagnosed.

Sort of a medical Cath 22 it seems.

So, for those with pre-existing, undiagnosed conditions, beware, the insurance cop-out cometh!!!!!!

[cooperlola]

This so highlights the dangers of moving away from universal state healthcare.  Insurers are interested in one thing and one thing only - their own financial health.  Some of us may be able to "live with" private insurance for a year or two - but some will be condemned by it.[:@]

[woolybanana]

Not quite Coops. Though I accept that many of the private companies are only interested in their balance sheets, many of the Mutuelles do have a wider view. The problem is that expats do not seem to be able to tap into them at all at the moment. Perhaps some of the wiser ones will begin offering cover soon.

[cooperlola]

True Woolyb.  I keep wondering about a Friendly Society especially for immigrants but I wouldn't know where to start, sadly.  Exeter don't cover existing conditions.  It will be a Mutuelle for me if they get their act together (assuming I'll end up paying.)