Are seizures considered preexisting conditions to health insurers?

Answer 1

Depending upon the kind of seizures (grand mal, petit mal, etc), its recency, and its frequency, seizures may be considered to be a preexisting condition. A preexisting condition is one that has manifested itself before the application for insurance.

Among the medical questions that are asked on the application for insurance may be one pertaining to seizures. The question may be phrased in such a way that the insurer asks about seizures occurring within a stated period of time in the past. If there have been none within that period, the applicant may be able to honestly answer "No".

Alternately, the question may be asked as to whether the applicant has "ever" had a seizure. If the applicant has had one or more, the honest answer is "Yes".

Even if the applicant has had one or more seizures, and acknowledges it/them on the application, some insurers will issue a policy. In fact, the trend in health insurance is to preclude insurers from denying policies to applicants with preexisting conditions.

One of the major problems that sometimes arises is when the applicant is not truthful about health history. Often, that misrepresentation is discovered when the insured submits a claim for benefits. Because insurers investigate the type of claim and the need for the medical service, it is sometimes discovered that the service was connected with a condition that predated the policy. If the insured's misrepresentation was such that had the insurer known about it, it would have either not issued the policy, or would have issued it only for a higher premium, it may have the right to cancel the policy "ab initio". This means that the policy would be canceled retroactively from its inception.