Good Morning Folks
My mother who is in her mid 70s is diabetic. I am trying to get some sort of heath cover in place for her and found out that a lot of companies do not take on customers who have a pre-existing condition such as diabetes.
Has anyone else had that problem?
Do any companies insure diabetic individuals?
Thanks in advance for your responses.
Assuming you are in UK, you may find this tricky from a couple of standpoints, unless your pockets are very deep, and you are willing to pay quite significant monthly premiums.
In essence, health insurance is just like any other. Both insurer and the customer are looking to insure a risk, so you have assessed what you feel is a need, and the insurer will be assessing the risk of a potentially costly claim.
The first thing going against your mother is her maturity. All folks are considered a higher risk of medical matters arising as they become older; whether it be joint pain, with a potential for a replacement hip or other symptoms. I'm not suggesting your mother has any current issues, but just making a general point.
Secondly, diabetes is considered a life-long condition, with the known potential for complications arising, without considering the costs of recurring basic diabetes care.
Some years ago now, I did a large and long piece of work within one of the main health insurers, and certainly their core products didn't cover diabetes, or some types of arthritis (and other such conditions, like existing asthma) for that matter. The complication of diabetes is it's potential to affect so many areas and parts of the body, from eyes, feet, heart and so on, so excluding anything related to diabetes is very, very difficult indeed.
My only suggestion would be if you have medical insurance yourself, to look at adding your mother to your policy. My employment terms at the time provided medical insurance, including pre-existing condition, and I could add my partner on the same basis, and wider family members on a similar, although not exactly the same basis.
I think you might be up against it, if I'm honest, but I would be delighted to be proven wrong. I applaud you for wanting to look after your mother so well. She's lucky to have a son who wants to provide the best for her.
