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What exactly is pre-existing condition?


mafig
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This is my issue also. The answer to the above quote for me is YES I am willing to lose the prepaid money if I have to cancel early. So, Can I put 0$ in the prepaid amount, buy the insurance whenever I want before the trip, and still be covered for PEC for medical/evac while on vacation? I realize the cost s will not be paid if I cancel pre trip.

Not exactly. First, you are still subject to the pre-existing condition exclusion. So you do have to pay attention to the 60 day ( or however long) lookback period. Secondly, you are better off putting down $1 Trip value instead of $0. This is because coverage (and the lookback period) start now, at purchase for $1 coverage, but don't start until the cruise date for $0 coverage.

 

Example: You have no medical conditions and take no medications. You buy the policy today for $0 Trip cost, for a January cruise. In late December you get sick, go to the doctor, it's bronchitis. But you're good to go on the cruise, get your antibiotics and start taking them. Go on the cruise and finish your meds the first day of the cruise. Start to hack and wheeze worse, it's pneumonia.

 

With $0 Trip cost, it's a PEC and you are not covered for medical expenses on the ship or on land. Nor are you covered if they put you off early to go to a hospital.

 

With $1 Trip cost, it is not a PEC and you are covered for what happens on the ship, and (usually) 30 days after.

 

With $1 coverage, you will not recoup cruise costs if you cancel after penalties apply, nor will you get any refund if you have to cut short your trip for what is normally a covered reason.

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If you sell insurance in the United States and ask medical questions, the answers are subject to HIPAA, compliance with which is a major PITA.

 

So for this specific insurer [Nationwide], if the medications for your high blood pressure and your husband's neurosarcoidosis have been the same dosage for more than 60 days; and if you have not visited a physician who recommended any tests or treatments for these conditions during that time, then they do not count against you. If you have changed medications or had additional tests, then you can still get insurance coverage via this policy as long as you purchase it within 21 days of booking and are currently able to travel.
Precisely, and I spoke directly with a broker at insuremytrip.com and with an agent at Nationwide Insurance, itself, and confirmed that your understanding is correct, as it pertains to that insurance.

 

After doing loads of research on this and talking with folks at both insuremytrip and tripinsurancestore, we've decided to go with one of Nationwide's cruise-specific insurance policies that include a preexisting condition waiver through insuremytrip.

 

There are insurance policies that will waive the pre-existing conditions exclusion if you purchase them within x days of making the initial deposit (x varies by insurer, but is usually 3 weeks or less). If you have an unstable condition, then you need to buy insurance shortly after paying the deposit on your cruise.
Or purchase a preexisting condition waiver, or purchase an insurance policy that includes a preexisting condition waiver, like two of the Nationwide policies. Note though that waivers have their own conditions. Sometimes they include a requirement that you are able to travel on final payment date (which perhaps requires being able to see into the future). Another reason why we've decided to go with the Nationwide policies is that their additional conditions on the included preexisting waiver require that you be able to travel on the effective date of the policy (the day you purchase it).
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  • 10 months later...
If you sell insurance in the United States and ask medical questions, the answers are subject to HIPAA, compliance with which is a major PITA.

 

Precisely, and I spoke directly with a broker at insuremytrip.com and with an agent at Nationwide Insurance, itself, and confirmed that your understanding is correct, as it pertains to that insurance.

 

After doing loads of research on this and talking with folks at both insuremytrip and tripinsurancestore, we've decided to go with one of Nationwide's cruise-specific insurance policies that include a preexisting condition waiver through insuremytrip.

 

Or purchase a preexisting condition waiver, or purchase an insurance policy that includes a preexisting condition waiver, like two of the Nationwide policies. Note though that waivers have their own conditions. Sometimes they include a requirement that you are able to travel on final payment date (which perhaps requires being able to see into the future). Another reason why we've decided to go with the Nationwide policies is that their additional conditions on the included preexisting waiver require that you be able to travel on the effective date of the policy (the day you purchase it).

 

Thank you for sharing your research, it was very helpful.

 

I probably will select Nationwide Choice Cruise right before Final Payment. I noticed that the Medical coverage is called Emergency Sickness Medical. Surely treatment for a cold or flu would be covered, it is very hard to tell. Also some states have their own mandated language to go through.

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