

Ask HN: Any expats with preexisting medical condition? - crohndev_tmp

Hello HN,<p>are there any expats here who <i>migrated to another country with a severe preexisting medical condition</i>? Where did you migrate to? Could you share your experience? I&#x27;m particularly interested in migrating to USA and within Europe.<p>I&#x27;m a 26 years old web dev, EU national, currently living in France. I have a severe medical condition (Crohn&#x27;s disease). I&#x27;m currently treated with a pretty expensive treatment (~25k € per year) which is fully paid by the French public health system. I&#x27;m wondering about moving to some other country, but continuing the treatment is crucial for me. However it&#x27;s hard to get reliable data on this, that&#x27;s why I&#x27;m asking HNers for help.<p>So far I found out that <i>Australia</i> is out of scope for me, since there&#x27;s a medical examination of visa applicants, and if a migrant could be a burden to the state (i.e. treatment cost over &#x27;significant cost threshold&#x27; which is now AUD$35k over 5 years) then the visa application will likely be rejected.<p>I&#x27;m wondering about the <i>USA</i>: how hard is it for a non-American to get a health insurance with preexisting medical condition (and how much it costs)? If I managed to get a good job in an American company which offers private medical insurance, would I need to worry about my preexisting medical condition? I&#x27;ve read also that things vary by state, so it&#x27;s pretty complex.<p>I think I probably have the biggest chance of continuing the treatment <i>within the affluent EU&#x27;s countries</i> (due to certain UE non-discriminatory agreements etc.), but still I&#x27;d be great to know some first-hand cases. In my country of origin (less affluent EU member), from what I&#x27;ve read on patient forums, the treatment is only given to the most seriously sick people, and only for short time spans, that&#x27;s why I&#x27;d love to know details per country.<p>Thank you in advance for all your input.
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dalke
You've asked a complex question. The rules in the US have changed. Quoting
[http://www.ccfa.org/resources/diagnosing-and-managing-
ibd.ht...](http://www.ccfa.org/resources/diagnosing-and-managing-ibd.html)
(and as of 1/1/2014):

> that health plans are now required under federal law to cover all patients,
> including those with serious medical conditions. However, levels of coverage
> vary and you may well want to make changes going forward with a chronic
> disease diagnosis like IBD. To find out how the new law will affect you, the
> US Department of Health provides information at www.healthcare.gov.

You can also call +1-800-318-2596.

As you found out, the actual price will depends on where you live, your
income, your employer, and more.

Based on the answers at [http://www.eb5investors.com/qa/how-restrictive-is-
medical-sc...](http://www.eb5investors.com/qa/how-restrictive-is-medical-
screening) , the US does require a health screening, but it's mostly to check
for communicable diseases, and not chronic diseases. (In that case, someone's
heart problem shouldn't be a reason to reject the application.)

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rprospero
I recently moved to the UK from the US and my wife has some severe medical
problem. I wrote a long rant here, but I decided to be more sucinct.

UK: Decent care and treatment of foreigners with pre-existing conditions. My
wife's health has improved greatly in simply a month.

USA: Don't bother. Neglecting all of the economic concerns, the actual care
isn't that great. Your Crohn's disease will either be treated with a bottle of
pain killers that don't do anything besides hide the problem, or you'll be
accussed of being an addict searching for pain killers and tasked with proving
that you actually have Crohn's disease. If the blood test comes back
confirming what you've original said, they'll just repeat the blood test over
and over again until statistical uncertain confirms their original diagnosis.

I've started to rant again, so I'll stop here. If you want to know more about
the USA or the UK, my e-mail address is in my profile.

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crohndev_tmp
Forgot to add, and I can't edit now: I'm doing kind of okay now, but it's due
to months of treatment. I'm fully able to work, the biggest concern are the
costs of the treatment.

