How To Buy A Health Insurance Cover If You Have A Pre-Existing Disease

Vivek Law: A lot of people have doubts that if they have a pre-existing disease, can they still get a health insurance cover? What are the factors to be kept in mind before buying a health insurance cover if you have a pre-existing disease?

Dhruv Sarin: It depends on the severity of your pre-existing disease as well as your age. For example, my father has been diabetic for the last 22 years. Since I am on this side of the table where I know the kind of underwriting risk is involved, I was able to get a cover for him. The policy had three years waiting period. This means that any diabetic related hospitalization was not covered for three years and it was covered only after that period gets over.  

A case in point was my mother who had a knee problem which is a permanent exclusion. This means any knee-related hospitalization or medical expense won’t be covered at all. So depending upon the type and severity of the pre-existing disease, you can get a health insurance cover. For example, a 60-years-old diabetic may get a cover whereas a 30-years-old diabetic may not get a cover due to his severity of diabetes. 

It's difficult to get a health insurance cover for people who have been treated for Cancer. Though, there is a pilot product of Star Health that covers Cancer survivors. Therefore, it is always recommended to buy a health cover at an early age. The earlier you buy, the early you are covered for health insurance. 

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People should look at various factors like the waiting period, co-payment, loading charges of the pre-existing disease before buying a health cover if they have a pre-existing disease. 

On Policybazaar, we have a platform where we arrange medicals for consumers when they visit the site, and then we can share their medical reports with their consent with multiple companies. Consumers can then get offers from various companies from which they can choose the relevant offer for themselves. So, rather than applying in companies separately, consumers can choose from various options at Policybazaar on a single platform conveniently.