The financial impact of defining illnesses as acute or chronic can mean some policyholders go without the care they need. Dave Priestley delves into an emotional area
The issue of the treatment of chronic conditions is a highly emotional one. How do you tell someone who has cancer, for example, that their policy does not pay for treatment that will prolong their life? On the other hand, for how long should private medical insurance (PMI) providers be expected to pay for ongoing treatment of cancer, given that PMI was designed to treat acute conditions only? Unfortunately, it is not a question with an easy answer. PMI is designed to pay for treatment that will cure an acute condition and get a policyholder back on their feet. By contrast, critical i...
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