Is high blood pressure considered pre-existing condition?

Asked by: Dr. Grayce Boyer  |  Last update: March 14, 2023
Score: 4.9/5 (16 votes)

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is an example of one such common pre-existing condition affecting more than 33 million adults under 65.

What qualifies as a pre-existing condition?

A health problem, like asthma, diabetes, or cancer, you had before the date that new health coverage starts. Insurance companies can't refuse to cover treatment for your pre-existing condition or charge you more.

Is high blood pressure a heart condition for insurance?

Living with high blood pressure significantly increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, which makes those with this condition a greater risk to insure. However, as long as you're managing your condition with medication and diet, you will likely be able to find life insurance coverage.

What pre-existing conditions are not covered?

Health insurers can no longer charge more or deny coverage to you or your child because of a pre-existing health condition like asthma, diabetes, or cancer, as well as pregnancy. They cannot limit benefits for that condition either.

How do insurance know about pre-existing conditions?

Full medical cover underwriting

Full underwriting lets you know for sure whether your pre-existing condition is covered or not. You have to provide your insurer with extensive details of your medical history.

Travel Medical Insurance - Pre-Existing Medical Conditions

45 related questions found

What medical conditions do you have to declare for travel insurance?

If you've ever had any of the following, you'll always need to declare it on your travel insurance: A cardiovascular condition – including high blood pressure or cholesterol. Any heart condition.
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  • Symptoms.
  • Treatment/medication.
  • Investigation.
  • Medical appointments.
  • Follow-ups.
  • Check-ups.
  • Surgery.

Does high blood pressure disqualify you from life insurance?

Generally, a person can qualify for life insurance with high blood pressure as long as no other more serious health conditions are present and if they can demonstrate they are following their physician's advice for managing their blood pressure.

What is the life expectancy of a person with high blood pressure?

For all-cause death, absolute excess risks ranged from 10.1 to 107.6 per 1000 in 25 years. For men with higher BP levels, ie, high-normal BP and stages 1, 2, and 3 hypertension, estimated life expectancy was shorter by 2.2, 4.1, 8.4, and 12.2 years, respectively, compared with men with normal BP.

What do insurance companies consider high blood pressure?

What do insurance companies consider high blood pressure? Generally, blood pressure of 130-139 over 80-89 is considered high by insurance underwriters. Blood pressure of 140/90 or higher may impact your rates, while a reading over 180 can disqualify you for a policy.

What is the difference between existing and pre-existing?

A. You can use pre- in ways that are redundant, but it's a valid prefix, and preexisting has its own meaning. For instance, if you want to describe dinosaurs in relation to humans, existing doesn't work, but preexisting does.

What does it mean by pre-existing?

Definition of preexisting

: existing at an earlier time a preexisting medical condition.

How can I lower my blood pressure for insurance test?

So, how can I lower my blood pressure for my insurance test? Drink a few extra glasses of water for a few days before your exam. Try to avoid eating or drinking anything except water for 12 hours before you are examined. Try to avoid drinking alcohol, coffee, and smoking cigarettes before taking your brief exam.

Does insurance cover blood pressure medication?

High blood pressure can be treated with medication in most cases, but medications for hypertension are not covered by Original Medicare. Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans — each sold by private insurers — can help with the costs of blood pressure medicines.

Can you reverse the damage of high blood pressure?

Treating out-of-control blood pressure with antihypertensive medication can greatly reduce your risk for heart attack, stroke and heart failure, but the current approach to treatment can't undo all of the previous damage or restore cardiovascular disease risk to ideal levels, a new Northwestern Medicine study suggests.

What is the main cause of high blood pressure?

What causes high blood pressure? High blood pressure usually develops over time. It can happen because of unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as not getting enough regular physical activity. Certain health conditions, such as diabetes and having obesity, can also increase the risk for developing high blood pressure.

How do you feel when you have high blood pressure?

Blood pressure is mostly a silent disease

Unfortunately, high blood pressure can happen without feeling any abnormal symptoms. Moderate or severe headaches, anxiety, shortness of breath, nosebleeds, palpitations, or feeling of pulsations in the neck are some signs of high blood pressure.

Can drinking lots of water lower blood pressure?

Something as simple as keeping yourself hydrated by drinking six to eight glasses of water every day improves blood pressure. Water makes up 73% of the human heart,¹ so no other liquid is better at controlling blood pressure.

What will disqualify you from life insurance?

Their reasons could be anything from a serious medical condition (like heart disease) or poor results from your life insurance medical exam to nonmedical reasons like bankruptcy, a criminal record, a positive drug test or even a dangerous hobby.

Is hypertension a disease?

Hypertension is a serious medical condition and can increase the risk of heart, brain, kidney and other diseases. It is a major cause of premature death worldwide, with upwards of 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women – over a billion people – having the condition.

Should I declaring pre-existing medical conditions?

If you hadn't declared any pre-existing disease earlier, you should come forward and declare it later. Else, your claim could be rejected after having paid premiums for several years,” adds Chhabra.

Do you have to declare statins on travel insurance?

The short answer is, yes! Although high cholesterol is often seen as a minor condition, it's important to declare it on your travel insurance policy in case of any linked conditions. That way, if something happens to you whilst you're away, you can rest assured with peace of mind that it is covered.

Do I need to declare anxiety on travel insurance?

Yes. You will need to declare anxiety if you have ever received treatment for anxiety.

Does aspirin lower blood pressure?

Aspirin traditionally was assumed to have no effect on blood pressure,5 but in recent studies, aspirin intake at bedtime compared with intake on awakening considerably reduced blood pressure.

What over the counter medicine is good for high blood pressure?

Are there any high blood pressure medicines that can be bought over-the-counter? The short answer is: No. There are no FDA-approved medicines to treat high blood pressure that do not require a prescription.

What is the cost of high blood pressure?

High blood pressure costs the nation about $131 to $198 billion each year. This total includes the cost of health care services, medications to treat high blood pressure, and loss of productivity from premature death.