Declined For Health Insurance - Is There Anything I Can Do?

I often hear people say, "I am very healthy and I do not understand why I was declined for insurance coverage. I only have some minor things wrong."
Minor issues or major ones?
Sometimes the things we think are minor issues can be a major concern for insurance companies. Insurance is a risk and if they feel the risk to insure you is too great, they will decline coverage. Insurance companies insure people depending on what might happen to them, not what has already happened to them. Insurance is defined as a contract whereby an insurer promises to pay the insured a sum of money or some other benefit upon the happening of one or more uncertain events in exchange for the payment of a premium.
Options for insurance coverage
While being declined for insurance coverage never feels good, there might be options for you.
1. There are many plans that will cover you outside of the USA. These plans are referred to as short term travel plans and offer coverage from one week to three years; after three years you may re-apply if needed. These plans do not require underwriting so you would be automatically accepted.
With these types of plans the coverage is more limited and they usually will not cover any pre-existing conditions, but most of these plans do offer coverage for an acute onset of a pre-existing condition. As a general rule, insurance companies describe an acute onset of pre-existing condition as a sudden and unexpected outbreak or recurrence of a pre-existing condition which occurs spontaneously and without advance warning. The benefit period with most of these plans is 180 days from the time you received a diagnosis or treatment of a covered illness or injury while outside your home country.
2. If you are looking for a major medical plan that will cover you outside of the USA and that would offer you some USA furlough coverage, you may want to look at a plan that offers riders or waivers (rider/waivers = an attachment to an insurance policy that alters the policy's coverage or term / a medical issue that will not be covered). A company may put semi-permanent or permanent riders on certain pre-existing conditions. It is better to have a semi-permanent rider (one, two or three years) on a pre-existing condition then to have a plan that forever excludes or caps coverage for pre-existing conditions.
3. Unfortunately, there are millions of people in the USA who cannot qualify for US domestic healthcare benefits due to uninsurable health conditions. There are some health discount plans available that will give these individuals some coverage.
A good insurance broker will be able to give you more information about these plans.