International health insurance with a pre-existing condition

"Do you cover pre-existing conditions" gets four different answers in this market, and the differences are structural rather than cosmetic.

• Blanket exclusion. Anything you had, had symptoms of, or should have known about before your cover started is excluded, permanently. No questionnaire at application. The questions get asked at claim time instead.
• Moratorium underwriting. You declare nothing up front, but conditions from a recent look-back window are excluded at the start, and cover for them can resume if you go a stated continuous period without symptoms, treatment, medication or advice.
• Full medical underwriting. You complete a health questionnaire, and the insurer writes specific exclusions or a premium loading into your certificate before you buy. You know exactly where you stand on day one.
• Medical history disregarded. Existing conditions are covered from the start. In practice this is mostly an employer group scheme arrangement rather than something sold to an individual.

Two of these are published by insurers we could read directly. Allianz Care's own international healthcare plans page, checked 11 August 2026, offers a moratorium underwriting option and states there are no medical questionnaires to complete with it. IMG Global's international health insurance page, same date, says its programme "provides different underwriting methods to extend medical coverage to you that may be declined by other companies". Neither statement tells you what your own outcome would be, and neither of them is a promise.

Blanket exclusion, and we would rather you know before the quote call than after a claim. Pre-existing conditions are not covered, and the wording reaches conditions that existed without your knowledge as well as ones you have been treated for.

The upside of that structure is real: you can apply and be covered the same day, with no medical examination. The insurer may still ask for proof of age or a health declaration, and may apply additional exclusions or a higher premium based on what your application says.

The downside is equally real. Because nothing is agreed in advance, the assessment happens when you claim, which is the worst moment to discover a disagreement. That is the honest trade in no-questionnaire underwriting, and it applies to every product built this way, not just this one. Our detailed page on buying with a pre-existing condition quotes the exact clause and shows how to test it on a quote call.

Under a blanket exclusion, no. There is no clause in the wording behind the plans we arrange that turns an excluded condition into a covered one after a period of good health. Waiting does not help.

Under moratorium underwriting, yes in principle. That is the mechanism's entire purpose: after a continuous stretch with no symptoms, no treatment, no medication and no advice relating to the condition, it can come back into cover. The length of that stretch is set in each insurer's own policy wording, so it is a question to ask before you buy rather than a number to assume. Ask for it in writing and ask what counts as breaking the run.

Under full medical underwriting, the exclusion is written into your certificate at the start. Whether it can be reviewed and lifted later is again a matter for that insurer's wording, not a market rule.

Every insurer measures "pre-existing" against the date your cover with them started. So the day you switch, your medical history restarts from the new insurer's point of view.

Work through what that means. Suppose you bought cover three years ago and were diagnosed with something in year two. On your current policy that condition arose during cover. Move to a cheaper policy today and it is history, which means it is pre-existing, which means it is excluded. A moratorium clock, if you had one running, also restarts from zero.

That is the hidden cost inside a cheaper renewal quote, and it is why continuity has a value that does not show up in the premium comparison. Weigh the annual saving against the conditions you would be handing over. Lapsing a policy has a related effect on the exclusion clock, covered in our visa pre-existing conditions guide.

Get these answered in writing, by the insurer or the broker, before money changes hands. Yes-or-no questions get yes-or-no answers.

• Which underwriting do you apply: blanket exclusion, moratorium, or full medical?
• If I am treated for my named condition, is that claim excluded?
• How would a complication of that condition be assessed?
• If it is a moratorium, how long is the symptom-free period, and what restarts it?
• Does anything I disclose now get written onto the certificate, or is it assessed at claim time?
• What happens to my status at renewal, and what happens if I miss a payment?

If a provider will not answer the second question directly, that is information too. You can request a quote and put these to a person on the phone before you commit.

Usually not in the way people fear. A consulate reads what your certificate covers, not what your medical history contains, so a policy that excludes a pre-existing condition can still produce a compliant certificate. The consulate keeps discretion over every file.

The full argument, including the exact policy clause and how a lapse in cover affects it, is on our visa health insurance with a pre-existing condition guide. This page is about the underwriting; that one is about the paperwork.