Hi - my husband currently has health insurance with Aviva but we were advised on renewal that a policy with Vitality would offer much better cover in terms of outpatient and diagnostic tests for a slightly cheaper premium. We were all set to switch when we discovered that Vitality does not offer health insurance to anyone with Parkinson’s disease. Has anyone else encountered this… and is it even legal to deny insurance for PD?
Hi - Sorry to disappoint you but you are highly unlikely to find any insurer in the UK prepared to cover PD or any other long term health condition. It is not illegal, private health insurance essentially covers acute, curable conditions and/or surgery where there is a long wait for NHS care, and not pre-existing, ongoing disease. Those of us who access private treatment or care, usually because local NHS systems are inadequate, pay for it ourselves.
@Mountainair they are not being refused cover for PD, they are being refused ALL cover it seems.
Is that right @Seahorse?
I would guess yes - it isn’t like travel insurance where some conditions may simply be excluded. With health insurance, the health of the individual in totality is taken into consideration and insurance refused for individuals with serious long-standing conditions. Judging from previous posts by seahorse, her husband now has quite advanced PD. The situation might be different for someone younger and/or more mildly affected.
My point was it isn’t illegal or discrimiatory in the usual sense, it’s a question of a person’s overall health and whether it’s an acceptable ‘risk’ for the policy underwriters. We are very lucky to have a NHS in the UK despite it’s difficulties.
Yes, it is - all cover refused. Luckily the insurance we had does cover him so we have stuck with it, but it did seem unusual that Vitality wouldn’t cover him for anything, and our insurance broker was surprised too and is following it up.
His PD isn’t that advanced - he has no trouble getting around, though he doesn’t walk as well as he used to do, of course. We have never needed to claim anything in relation to his PD. In fact I can’t remember when we have ever claimed on his health insurance.
It 's terrible! I sincerely sympathize with you .
If they don’t provide health insurance to some people, they probably have a legal right to it. But it seems that such behavior of insurance companies is immoral and unethical. They refuse to serve those people who need insurance the most. I have been paying for Medicare Easy Pay for a long time, and I think they cover the costs associated with long-term illnesses. You can clarify this on the website, but I think if it is relevant to you, it can be a solution to the problem.