There are various definitions of the differences and this explanation does not seek to be an authoritative work dealing with the best definition of the difference.
However a working definition is that a chronic condition represents a health problem that persists through time requiring various degrees of ongoing health care. Any treatment can only alleviate the symptoms, as curative treatments have yet to be found, An acute condition, on the other hand, is limited in time as the treatments provided have the potential to fully cure.
So conditions like arteriosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, eczema, renal failure, obstructive lung disease, sarcoidosis, congestive heart failure, multiple sclerosis, leukaemia or cancers amongst many other health impairments are classified as chronic conditions and the treatment resulting from the maintenance of these conditions is therefore excluded under the terms of many international healthcare plans.
The cost of the premiums will be greatly reduced if you choose a healthcare plan with out the cover of chronic conditions.
However it is not such a good idea to exclude such conditions whilst living outside of the UK. If there is no NHS to provide treatment in the circumstances. Where will the expatriate, or his/her family, obtain the funding for treatment if such conditions are excluded from their international health plan?
If you have a good employer they may decide to pay for your medical treatment, but if you are retired, you may have to sell up your dream home and return to the UK, because you cannot afford the treatment you need.
The absence of chronic condition coverage also poses difficulties in respect of those conditions, which start life as acute, but which then progress to becoming chronic conditions. The most obvious example is a cancer where the oncologist initially anticipates a cure and applies treatment accordingly. Where this curative treatment proves to be unsuccessful, and the cancer then by definition becomes incurable, the condition description would move from acute to chronic. It is a clear but concerning fact that for a very significant percentage of people with international healthcare, this change in definition from acute to chronic would coincide with the removal of insurance cover.
Therefore, it does not take much imagination to visualise a situation where an insured member and his/her family is informed at more or less the same time that not only is the condition incurable, but also the patient is now on his own as far as the treatment costs are concerned.
Although health insurance is essentially a simple product, you get sick, the bills get paid; in practice the details of the scope of coverage from one insurer to another do warrant considerable analysis.
There is no discretionary buying decision required, you either have cover or you have to pay big bucks for treatment yourself.
Globalsurance is an independent Worldwide Health Insurance Advisor. We work with all the major insurance company and can give you independent advice or a range of free International Health Insurance Quotes; click for Free Advice and Quotes.
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