Neglected Medical History (MHD) health insurance ignores any pre-existing conditions your employees may have had. With MHD insurance, your health insurance policy will cover all eligible conditions, regardless of when the symptoms started.
What are pre-existing health conditions in relation to private health insurance?
Before we get into the details of pre-existing medical conditions (MHD), we should explain what pre-existing medical conditions are and how they usually affect health insurance policies.
A pre-existing condition is any illness or symptom that you or your employees had before taking out a health insurance policy. This may include something you needed treatment for or talked to your GP about for advice. Generally speaking, if there is a note about it in your medical records, it will be classified as a pre-existing condition.
Most private health insurance policies exclude pre-existing conditions; however, in some cases, if you do not suffer from symptoms or require medical attention for two years, they may be included in your policy.
How does insurance work regardless of medical history?
If you are an employer with at least 20 employees, you may be able to opt for specialist health insurance with a medical history waiver. As we stated at the beginning of this article, MHD insurance effectively ignores your employees’ pre-existing health conditions and provides the most comprehensive coverage available.
It is possible that a number of your staff have had serious illnesses in recent years. They would be excluded with a conventional health insurance policy and insurance, but with insurance that does not take medical history into account, they would be covered (assuming they qualify).
By comparison, both the Moratorium Guarantee and the Full Medical History Guarantee would require your employees’ medical histories to be examined at some stage.
If you have a moratorium contract, your insurers will look at their medical records when they claim to see if they will provide coverage. This can mean that claims take longer to process as they have to research. With full health cover, they will have to submit details of their medical history when they join the policy.
Your employees’ existing conditions are irrelevant to the medical history disregard policy.
What is not covered Neglected medical history?
It is important to remember that although pre-existing conditions are covered, there will still be some exclusions that will apply regardless of the type of warranty you choose. There are a number of health insurers in the health insurance market. Each has its own list of medical exclusions and treatments it does not cover. These usually include pregnancy, cosmetic surgery and addiction treatment. Experimental and unlicensed medical treatment is also usually unavailable.
Private health insurance is designed to cover acute conditions that can be resolved with treatment, and this also applies to public transport insurance. If your employees have chronic health conditions that require ongoing treatment, your health insurance will not cover them. This includes medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma or angina. If acute symptoms occur due to a chronic condition that was diagnosed before you had business health insurance, they will not be covered by other types of insurance, but will be covered under the MHD policy.
What are the advantages of MHD insurance?
MHD Insurance allows you to offer comprehensive health insurance coverage to even your highest-risk staff members. Here are just a few advantages:
Cover pre-existing conditions
The biggest advantage of MHD coverage is that it covers all eligible pre-existing conditions. For many employers and employees, this is huge, as pre-existing medical conditions are usually excluded by private health insurers.
You can include employees with chronic diseases
Chronic conditions are not covered by health insurance, even with a neglected illness policy. However, if an employee with a chronic illness suffers from another related condition, they will be able to receive private treatment. This makes life better for both of you because they can recover faster and you can spend less time tracking and managing absences from work.
It will help you attract the best staff
Being able to offer the most comprehensive health cover through a company scheme will help you attract and retain new talent. This is especially important when we are in the job seeker’s market. Your staff can receive medical appointments or access diagnostic tests flexibly at a time that suits them, so trying to get treatment is less stressful.
You can maintain employee confidentiality
With MHD insurance, your staff won’t have to provide details of their medical history even when making a claim, as your insurer will offer cover regardless. It allows them to maintain confidentiality in a number of ways.
With the moratorium plan, group members submit an application and wait to see if it is approved. If you have comprehensive health insurance, they will already know if a certain condition is covered. Either way, they could find themselves in a situation where they report you absent and have to explain why they have to wait for NHS treatment. With the MHD policy, I can continue organizing private treatment.
There are fewer admins
Ignoring medical history means fewer forms to fill out, both for you and your employees. They don’t have to provide details of their medical history at any stage, which will also mean less paperwork for you, depending on how you run the policy. If you are creating a company policy from scratch, the MHD guarantee makes it faster and easier.
The claims process is also faster and simpler because your insurers don’t have to check your employees’ medical history before making a decision.
Are there any disadvantages?
Offering a group health insurance plan that doesn’t take medical history into account may sound ideal, but there are a few drawbacks.
It’s more expensive
The insurance process for MHD is complex because the policy can cover everything from a weekend triathlete to a smoker with a history of heart disease. This type of policy allows you to offer cover to employees who may have a long history of ill health, so a wide range of risks should be considered. As a result, you will pay a higher cost for coverage than you would with another type of insurance.
It is only available to larger companies
Although this is not set in stone, your insurance company will usually only offer you MHD if you are a larger company with at least twenty members of staff, so it is not available to small businesses looking for health insurance. This is because it allows your insurer to spread the risk across many members, while smaller groups carry the increased risk of more people making a claim.
It is more difficult to change insurers
The MHD policy still has medical exclusions, and each of the different insurers has their own approach. If you have an existing policy, your current insurance will be carried out by your current insurer according to their procedures. This could make it difficult for you to switch to a new insurer. You may look at your first-year renewal premiums and look elsewhere for a better deal, only to find that other insurers apply a different process and new medical exclusions.
Is neglected medical history insurance the right choice for you?
MHD insurance is great for employee equity as it allows you to offer premium health insurance to all of your employees regardless of any existing health issues they may have. Even if they have an individual policy, your group scheme is likely to offer them more comprehensive cover with no exclusions. It could also save you time administering a larger scheme, so it’s worth careful consideration.
However, it is more expensive than other types of insurance and may make it difficult for you to switch to a new insurer in the future.
