Unfortunately, this simple question has a complicated answer. The answer is: it depends. Firstly, it depends on whether you are a US resident traveling outside the US or a visitor to the US. US residents can purchase trip cancellation insurance like the Safe Travels Voyager, Safe Travels Single Trip Protection, Safe Travels First Class Trip Protection, Safe Travels Explorer Plus and Safe Travels Journey plans and they can cover acute onset of pre-existing conditions. These plans however may have specific requirements in order to waive the usual exclusion of coverage for pre-existing conditions (like purchase them within a certain number of days of your initial trip deposit or that you have a primary domestic insurance plan in the US), so you should check these details carefully if this is important to you.
Non-US residents or US residents traveling into the US have much more limited options to insure their pre-existing conditions are covered. Some plans offer coverage for "acute onset" of pre-existing conditions. However, this is misleading, since a careful look at their definition excludes chronic or congenital disorders from such coverage. Chronic illnesses are those that worsen over time and congenital disorders are issues one is born with. They exclude emergencies due to chronic illness because they will say that is not "acute" it is simply a worsening of your condition. There is a policy we know of that offer temporary medical insurance with coverage for acute onset of pre-existing conditions. It is Trawick International’s Safe Travels USA Comprehensive.
Firstly, they define pre-existing conditions in the following way: A pre-existing condition is a condition for which the insured received treatment or took medication for in the previous 12 months before the start of the policy. If the medication dosage has not changed and is taken as a maintenance medication, this would NOT count as a flare up or treatment of the condition. In that case, very stable conditions that have no flare ups in the past 12 months are not even excluded as pre-existing conditions. Conditions that have had flare ups or doctor recommended treatment or change in medication, are still covered by the plans but with a higher deductible and a lower maximum.
Trawick International’s Safe Travels USA Comprehensive covers Acute onset of Pre-existing condition coverage up to 69 years the limit is up to the Medical Maximum purchased per Period of Coverage. For any coverage related to cardiac disease, coverage is limited to $25,000 up to age 69 years and $15,000 for ages 70 and above. Above 70 years the Acute Onset benefits is reduced to a Maximum of $35,000, with a $25,000 Maximum Lifetime Limit for Emergency Medical Evacuation. Any repeat recurrence within the same policy period will no longer be considered Acute onset of Pre-existing condition coverage and will not be eligible for additional coverage.
