Most health insurance companies require that applicants undergo a medical exam before they will issue health insurance coverage. This medical exam will check vital signs including blood pressure and pulse, cholesterol levels, height and weight, and submit blood and urine samples. The results of these tests will help the underwriters determine how much of a risk the insured person will pose. It also helps them determine the health insurance premiums that you will be charged. These premiums are collected by the insurance company who, in turn, provides the client with health insurance that will protect them from expensive medical costs.

Now, when the answers to your medical questionnaire or the results of your medical exam show that you have pre-existing conditions, this can greatly affect your health insurance premiums. Basically, a pre-existing condition is a health condition that was present before you applied for health insurance. Some examples of pre-existing conditions include diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, cancer, glaucoma, or a heart condition.

To an insurance company having a pre-existing condition means that there is a higher risk of you making a claim. Insurance is all about risk. An insurance company wants to take on clients who will probably not file a claim. If insurance companies offered health insurance coverage to everyone who applied, premiums would be very expensive for everyone. This is because those who are already sick or have greater potential to become sick would force large monetary payouts. These payouts would have to be offset by the premiums that all policy owners pay.

If a person has a pre-existing condition, the insurance company can take a number of actions. If the risk is too high, they may choose to deny the applicant completely. In some cases, the insurance company will offer coverage, but may exclude the pre-existing condition. They will also probably charge much higher premiums than they would a healthy person with no health concerns.

If this happens to you, there is still hope. After a set period of time, you can re-apply for health insurance, if the medical condition has been stable and unchanged. If you are being charged a higher premium, it would benefit you to review your policy at a later date. If your condition has been stable, you may qualify for lower insurance premiums.

Whether or not you have a pre-existing medical condition, you should review your policy every year. Health conditions change, as do lifestyles and financial situations. This review will help you to decide if you need to make any changes to your policy. You may need to increase or decrease coverage, or new information that you bring to your insurance company may impact your premiums.