Health insurance,
especially health care or medical insurance, has been arousing great interest
among citizens for years, due to the numerous advantages it offers its users.
Much more after having recently experienced a two-year pandemic, a period in
which public health collapsed and private health insurance was of great
importance to carry out treatments and check-ups on pathologies that had
nothing to do with COVID-19 with -almost- normality within what was possible at
that time.
Having a health policy
is a thought that anyone already has and, therefore, it may be the case that we
are considering the possibility of contracting one of these insurances with the
aim of taking care of our health both personally and at a family level.
Can I take out health insurance if
I'm sick?
The insurance
companies use the health questionnaire to find out our current state of health
and the fundamental aspects of our medical history, for example, to be aware of
whether we are suffering from any type of disease at that time, if we present
any previous pathology (pre-existing) or we have a chronic ailment. In such a
case, after analyzing the risk, the company answers our request indicating that
it agrees to offer the requested coverage or stating that it does not assume
it.
In the event that the
insurance company decides to accept the risk -with the condition that we are
suffering from a disease or there is a previous or chronic ailment-, it is
normal for the company in question to establish a series of conditions in this
regard. Thus, it may happen that the insurance company accepts the subscription
of the policy, but expressly excluding the treatment of pre-existing ailments
that we have declared in the health questionnaire. It may also be the case that
the company accepts the formalization of the policy, ignoring our pre-existing
or chronic diseases or pathologies; They are usually the least, but in these
cases it will be of great help to have the medical reports of our previous or
current pathologies. Of course, the final price of the insurance will increase
significantly, since obviously the risk to be covered by the insurance company
also grows in the same way.
Here, the ball would
be in our court and we could decide whether or not to formalize the policy.
Therefore, there are cases (it will always depend on each particular insurer)
in which we can take out a health policy despite being sick at the time of
doing so or having suffered a serious illness.
What about life insurance with
pre-existing conditions?
As in the previous case,
everything depends on each specific case, as well as on the final decision of
the insurance companies. In the case of life insurance, in most cases it is
possible, although the premium to be paid may be higher. The final decision is
always in the hands of the company, since it will be in charge of analyzing the
risk that each policyholder implies according to their characteristics.
How do you get health insurance?
Once the type of
health insurance and insurance company with which we want to protect one of our
most precious assets has been chosen, the next step is to transfer our
intention to the chosen insurance company. This, once the specific policy we
wish to take out is known, will provide us with a series of documents that we
must fill out and then send to the company in question.
Said documentation is
made up of the insurance application and the health questionnaire, both adapted
to the product we have chosen. The information that we transfer to the
insurance company, through these two documents, will be essential so that the
risk can be assessed in the best possible way, something that will benefit both
the company and the insured (us). As we fill in the information, most of the
doubts we may have at that time will be cleared up.
You may have heard of health insurance card, but what are they
and what are they used for? Health insurance cards are important parts of a
person’s health insurance. Each health insurance company has its own card that
they require their customers to carry. There are two types of health insurance
cards: Standard health insurance cards and catastrophic health insurance cards.
Insurance application
Through this document
we provide the insurance company with data that must appear in the insurance
contract, such as the name and surname, nationality or address and place of
habitual residence. In addition, we will also provide the entity with other
aspects such as the profession we perform or our age. A crucial fact is age,
since depending on how old we are, the risk to be assumed by the company is
different. As a general rule, the older we are, the greater the risk that the
insurer will have to accept to cover, a factor that, in most cases, will be
reflected in the final price of the policy.
In addition, with
respect to contracting this type of insurance, the insurance companies
establish, generally in a range that goes from 65 to 75 years, the maximum age
to be able to do so. This does not mean that after this age we cannot continue
to be holders of a healthcare policy, but it does mean that we have to pay a
higher premium or give up access to certain coverage.
Medical questionnaire
We could classify it as the document that contains the most valuable information for the insurance company -not surprisingly, it is a signed statement-, since through it we make the company aware, in detail, of our current state of health, as well as our medical-health history (diseases, surgical interventions...). With this information, the insurance company studies our case in particular and offers us a response to the insurance request that we have submitted. Answer that, as we will see below, can vary depending on the information provided. At this point, when completing the document, it is essential to emphasize that we must be as rigorous as possible, since it will depend on whether we can make use of our medical insurance with full guarantee.
