Pre-Existing Conditions Health Insurance For MS

The insurance plans tend to be quite inexpensive, so it is not difficult to carry them in addition to a regular major medical plan. For example, it is not uncommon to see good major medical coverage with a catastrophic deductible of $25,000 with about $1 million of maximum coverage for an annual premium of less than $200. The "catch" is that usually they are only offered by very large groups, and they often have a waiting period for pre-existing conditions (typically a year or two). Thus, counting backward under such a plan, a person who has MS would have to take out the policy, wait one or two years, and then wait the period while they are accumulating deductible expenses. During this waiting period, other coverage would need to be used for MS related healthcare costs.
 

Pre-Existing Conditions Health Insurance For MS

However, if such a plan can be located and locked-in early in the course of the disease, it can often be the "ticket" that gives the person with MS the freedom to avoid catastrophic health insurance-related financial problems as the disease progresses. When combined with any other form of health insurance (including employer-sponsored group major medical), such a plan can reduce the overall exposure to health risks to a fixed amount even in the absence of continuation coverage.
 
These plans can typically be obtained through large associations or groups. You should check with professional or trade associations, your church, and other types of groups that you are eligible to join to see if such coverage is available.
 
If you have obtained a good health insurance policy with a waiver or exclusion for your MS, you should have good coverage for hospitalization for conditions unrelated to the disease. Additionally, if you have obtained a catastrophic major medical policy, hospitalization expenses for your MS may even be covered after any required waiting period and after the catastrophic deductible has been met.

If this strategy is followed, the real gaps in coverage can be limited to include the following: (1) services or expenses that are not traditionally covered by major medical policies, (2) extraordinary expenses you may recur that are not strictly health-related, and (3) expenses you may incur while waiting for coverage under one or more of your health plans. 

Long-term services can be included among the expenses that are not traditionally covered by major medical policies. These nontraditional expenses can also include, for example, the cost of a wheelchair lift system for a van. Depending on your type of insurance, this category may even include all of the costs of a wheelchair. Extraordinary expenses may include such things as extra transportation expenses due to a disability, more meals delivered because of fatigue, or similar expenses. In essence, the "gap" in coverage can simply be thought of as the not-otherwise-covered net additional expenses you incur precisely because of your MS.
 
There is no question that the need for available cash increases as MS progresses. However, contrary to popular opinion, if you find yourself hospitalized fairly frequently for reasons related to MS, you may have a golden opportunity to raise some of that needed cash precisely because you are sick and hospitalized.
 
One insurance product that is often readily available even to persons with pre-existing conditions is called hospital indemnity insurance. This insurance is usually sold to large group associations. It pays fixed amounts or "indemnities" for each day you are hospitalized. These policies have several characteristics that make them attractive under the right conditions:

• First, they need not be purchased before they become useful. If you are not hospitalized very much, you would be wise merely to begin a file folder with all the information you obtain about any such policies for which you may be eligible. At the appropriate time, you can sign up for the various policies. 
• Second, they tend not to exclude pre-existing conditions. Many of these policies simply have a waiting period for preexisting conditions.
• Third, most of these policies are guaranteed renewable and are issued to large groups. Thus, if you file multiple claims, your future coverage or premiums should not be affected.
• Fourth, these policies almost never have limitations or coordination-of-benefits provisions. Thus, they are "stackable." In other words, if it makes financial sense to have one policy, it may make just as much sense to have many such policies. And these policies will usually pay all benefits directly to you, regardless of any other health coverage you may have.

To find out more, you can check out Pre-Existing Conditions Health Insurance For MS.