Medical Cover - The 2 major issues, non pharmac drugs and pre-existing conditions

There are two major hot spots with medical insurance that people need to consider.

1. Non pharmac drugs.

Last week the New Zealand Herald did a special focus on cancer and in the one of the articles (click here) they talked about Keytruda, a new technology drug which is not government subsidised (or otherwise referred to as a Non Pharmac drug). Pharmac drugs are medicines that are in the Government subsided schedule. Non pharmac drugs are ones that are medically approved, new to the market, at the cutting edge and cost bucket loads of cash, but do not receive any subsidy.

If you are looking to take out new cover, this area should be something that you look at closely.

It is possible to have cover for non pharmac drugs. Most insurance companies have coverage to high limits, with the exception being Southern Cross, where the limit is $10,000 (which wouldn't get you very far).

If you already have medical cover with Southern Cross and are unable to switch due to pre-existing conditions, you could investigate taking out Non Pharmac Cover with another provider and having large excess of $2,000, $5,000 or even $10,000. This will keep your premiums lower, but should you need access to the drugs you pay the excess ($10,000 can be one or two weeks treatment).

Call us and we can discuss further.

2. Cover for pre-existing conditions.

When you apply for medical insurance you will complete a medical application and any medical condition that you have had in the past will be assessed. This may lead to exclusions on your policy (you can't insure the car after you have crashed it). In some cases these can be reviewed and removed once you have been treatment and symptom free for a certain period of time, but some exclusions will never be removed.

At the moment Southern Cross are running a promotion where you can sign up and any pre-existing conditions will be covered after 3 years. This deal runs until the 4th December, so if you, or anyone in your network could benefit from this promotion please contact me for some pricing. Please note; if you have an existing Southern Cross policy you are unable to sign up for this.

In summary

No medical cover, look for Non Pharmac Cover.

Have Southern Cross cover but want better coverage for non Pharmac drugs, contact us for pricing.

Have had a poor run of health and will have multiple exclusions on a new policy, sign up before 4th Dec and be covered after 3 years, contact us for pricing.