“Pre-existing conditionmeans a medical condition that existed before your effective date whether or not diagnosed by a physician, and/or whether or not you required or received treatment.”
A harmless little clause in a flashy old insurance product, recently revised. Needless to say, this is not a Medipac policy clause.
My father, age 89, woke up with heavy chest pain one morning and needed an emergency bypass. He had no idea that he had any problems. NOT COVERED.
You wake up in Arizona one morning and find it difficult to breathe. It turns out to be lung cancer. NOT COVERED.
I went to one of the medical testing buses in Tampa a few years back and they found a large aneurysm in my descending aorta. If that had burst, I may have been dead. Dead in more ways than one. NOT COVERED.
These are all things which you did not know you had until it was almost too late. If you buy this policy, it will be too late.
I decided to go online and buy a few policies today. Two of the largest travel insurance providers did not have a full policy online. I wonder why? You should wonder why, too. In both cases, it was a long tedious process designed to milk me of all the information they could and then, they would not even show me their policy. They just wanted my money!
And then there are the policies that will not cover ANY pre-existing conditions. And how about the policies that will only cover a pre-existing condition if it is listed on the policy itself? So tell me – how does that work? If I have atrial fibrillation and it is listed on the policy as covered, am I covered for a heart attack or stroke, or even a mini-stroke? The same question would apply to high blood pressure. Am I covered?? Such uncertainty; and I suspect that they do this to avoid paying some claims, especially the big ones.
This has been a very disruptive year in the travel medical insurance marketplace. Several companies dramatically increased their rates due to huge losses; there are whispers of losses in excess of $10 million at one company. You would think that they would learn. Two very large companies got out of the business altogether; they finally figured it out. You can’t take Medipac’s rates and add on huge commissions and marketing fees and expect to make money. Some of the very best life insurance agents refer their clients to us and get no commission. Why? Because they know how to read a policy and they know that Medipac’s policy and service are excellent.
My last thought involves discounts. With Medipac, you primarily earn your discounts through Loyalty Credits and Claims-Free discounts. Even if you have a claim,if you have MedipacPLUS, your first claim does not count against you. These two discounts can add up to 18% off the “book” premium.
Then you can deduct the Early Bird Discount of 5% by purchasing early and that adds up to 23% off. It only makes sense to purchase Medipac early on in your snowbird life to maximize your discounts. And don’t be mesmerized by a one-year rate wonder from another company…it won’t last and you may lose your discounts. Being fair, we will not penalize you if you are unable to travel due to illness in a particular year.
Many companies will not continue to give you a policy if you are over a certain age. I don’t think that you want to wake up when you are 70 or 75 or 80 and start to pay real prices for insurance at those ages with a different insurer. It’s expensive! A substantial discount will help a lot and you can earn that with Medipac. This year, we have five snowbirds who will turn 100 years old while they are away. Thank you Medipac – COVERED!