Is Medical Test necessary before buying a Health Insurance Policy?
While buying a medical insurance policy, the policyholder may not be aware of pre-existing diseases. Will this lead to the rejection of the health insurance claim?
Not all insurance companies ask for the requirement to go through a medical test before buying a health insurance policy. However, some companies can make it mandatory for the policyholder to undergo the medical tests.
Many people get the policy without declaring any pre-existing disease, which may get rejected by the insurance company even if you have filled out all the mandatory pre-existing disease declaration forms.
Here is why your claim can get rejected due to a pre-existing disease that you are unaware of?
Many diseases, like diabetes and diseases related to the heart and kidney, often take years to show the symptoms. Once these symptoms show up, the individual’s health starts degrading. The actions taken by insurers vary from company to company. Some insurers may not take any action for this, while others may raise objection. The non-disclosure could happen due to a lack of knowledge about the disease, misunderstanding, or not understanding the disclosure requirement, which can attract the rejection of the insurance claim.
Most health insurers suggest undergoing a pre-policy medical test but only a few insist on taking one. Therefore, it is better to ask the health insurance company for the medical test while buying health insurance to avoid any further confusion.
General medical test insurers ask to undergo before granting the Health Insurance policy?
These tests include complete blood count (CBC), blood sugar, liver and kidney function tests, lipid profile, ECG, blood pressure monitoring, chest X-ray, urine analysis, BMI, and HIV/hepatitis.
For older applicants or high-value policies, some additional tests may be required, such as eye examinations, lung function tests, stress tests, and ultrasounds. For senior citizens, some age-related evaluations such as cognitive assessments and bone density tests are required. Many insurance companies often consider conditions like asthma, thyroid disease, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes and heart disease as pre-existing ailments.
The waiting period generally ranges from 12 months to 36 months, depending on the condition. However, in some specific conditions, the coverage is provided instantly due to premium loading, which is the extra fee charged on the regular premium.
Who bears the cost of pre-policy medical test/checkup?
There are no standard rules regarding who bears the cost of these checkups. It depends on the company’s underwriting policy. In most health insurance policies, if an individual goes through a medical test and fails it, the entire cost is borne by the company as the test was initiated by them, while others may split the cost with the individual in case of non-issuance of policy. While, in other cases, the entire cost is borne by the policyholder.
