Cancer folk are discriminated against when it comes to insurance
My daughter and I have been organising to go on a 14 night cruise to New Zealand for my 50th birthday which is next year in November. This was before I found out I had breast cancer.
Now I understand how one has to get travel insurance, and to do that one has to declare all pre-existing medical conditions. That in itself was hard enough for me, due to having several conditions already. One of which is that I am an incomplete quadriplegic due to Cervical Myelopathy/Spondylosis. There are some insurance companies that won't touch any back or neck conditions, and some that will. Some insurance won't insure you at all if you have anything that doesn't fit within their parameters. So do I say I am a quadriplegic due to a spinal cord injury, or do I give the specific name of the bone condition that put me in a chair? Decisions, decisions.
Anyway, I had narrowed it down to a select few, finally finding a few that would take us, warts and all, only to find out that now I have cancer, it's a whole other ball game. The one of two insurers that will insure somebody with cancer has a list of pre-requisites a mile long, like not having had any treatment within a certain amount of time, diagnosis being a certain time ago, which it will by the time I go on my cruise, just not at the moment that I want to purchase the policy. And to top it off, the one that I finally found that would insure me for cancer, does not insure anything to do with the spine. Damn........... this is doing my head in, lol
So now, we are at a standstill. I emailed the insurance companies to explain my circumstances, and to ask if even if they don't insure for one thing, that all the other things are covered. I will be willing to take that chance. If I have to go with half an insurance policy, I will. Now I wait and see what is said.
I just don't think it is fair, that people with cancer and other chronic illnesses are discriminated against so badly. I have never gone on a cruise before. I have never really done anything since ending up in the wheelchair 17 yrs ago. My daughter and I thought this would be a really special thing to do, because I might not have the opportunity again, but obviously, if you have a disability or cancer, you aren't worth insuring. Heck, I would be willing to sign a waiver if that was what they wanted. All I want to do is go on a holiday with my child. Just because I am disabled and have cancer doesn't make me less of a person, but it certainly feels like it. I also paid $1700 as a deposit which I am concerned about now too.
So if anybody knows of any insurance agency that insures cancer and spine issues at the same time, please send me a message. I would be eternally greatful. I will continue to research, and if necessary, harass, because I feel this is something worth standing up for. Why should you or I be discriminated against just because we have cancer? It's not right, and it's not Australian.......... I will keep you posted on my progress.
Comments
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Hello Wheeliegal
Aren;t you so correct. It is discrimination. With all our discrimination laws you'd think something could be done. And with everyone selling insurance it must be a real money maker - of course if they have a bad year the premiums just go up!!! I'm pretty sure there was a post here about this in the last couple of months, the lady mentioned cancer and back probs and she had found a company. Hopefully she will answer. Enjoy your holiday.
Best wishes
Pam
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Hi there,
There are quite a few posts about insurance. If you pop the word insurance into the search bar they should come up. Have a read and see if you can come up with something. I will be interested as we are planning a trip to Hawaii at the moment. Here is the link to one of the posts I read which may help.
Paula
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Hi Wheeliegal,
Kat here from BCNA. I just wanted to jump in and give some recommendations. I'm sorry to hear that you're having such a hard time finding a reliable insurance company. I see that you've already found a bit of support here. As mum2jj says, I would definitely recommend searching through the previous travel insurance discussions on the online network. Here is the link: https://www.bcna.org.au/online-network/posts?from=&topics=&query=travel+insurance
I would also recommend that you download some of our resources on travel insurance. We have fact sheets for both early breast cancer as well as secondary breast cancer. You will also be able to find a fact sheet on making a complaint about an insurance decision. You can find the mentioned resources here: https://www.bcna.org.au/understanding-breast-cancer/resources/order-bcna-information-resources/ I hope that this information helps and that you have an amazing time on your cruise with your daughter.
Let me know how it all goes and if you need help with anything else:)
-Kat x
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