Does anyone know what happens to an active health claim when I leave work?

[Tinyhands]

DH has advanced prostate cancer. He's covered by my work health insurance and we have an active claim. He is currently on his first course of chemo and also taking hormone blockers. The chemo will end but the blockers are for the rest of his life. He is being treated by the NHS at the minute so the insurance are paying cash rather than funding treatment, but at some point we will want to switch to private care. Also, at some point I will want to stop working to spend time with him and to care for him.

Obviously if I leave work we no longer have health insurance, but does that also mean they stop paying for treatment under claims we already made, or does that carry on for as long as he is being treated?

Check your T&Cs, for mine it says as long as I am employed by my company - so if I left, the coverage would lapse (mid treatment or not).

For most it is just as long as you are employed, once you leave you are no longer covered even if that is mid treatment

I am sorry your husband is sick but I have never seen an insurance policy to pay for something that happens after you cancel the coverage.

I wouldn't expect them to pay for something new that happens after you cancel, the question is whether a claim that was approved while you are covered stops being paid when you cancel. Usually with insurance what matters is whether you are covered when you make the claim - eg if you get a week's travel insurance, have an accident and end up in hospital overseas for a month the insurance doesn't stop paying the claim at the end of the original week. I just don't know exactly what the deal is with employee health cover.

I'll call the insurers on Monday.

If it’s anything like our company, coverage, including active claims, definitely ends when you leave the company.

My husband left employment during an active claim for epilepsy. We transitioned to paying the health insurer personally to keep the claim going. Its expensive but worth it. What is essential is there is no break in the cover.

it may be worth speaking to a health insurance broker and getting them to speak to the insurer themselves. They have a preferential relationship and know when and who to push.

Thank you, that's very helpful.

Your husband should be able to switch back to the NHS once you leave. If your husband is having chemo and standard androgen deprivation therapy that is all available on the NHS. Newer ADT treatments eg enzalutamide are also becoming more available on the NHS.
Sorry your husband is unwell.

Your health insurance policy will lapse if your husband leaves his company. However, you may have the option to continue coverage by taking over the policy yourself. That said, company plans are usually much more expensive when paid for personally. It’s worth checking if my broker can arrange a continuation of coverage at a more competitive rate for you.
www.myhealthprotected.co.uk

It ends with your employment ends, and your employer will stop paying for you.

Can you take a sabbatical or get signed off with stress instead?

There's usually the option to take over the policy when employment ends. Otherwise would your employer grant you an unpaid sabbatical to keep the policy live whilst you care for your husband?

That would be my understanding too. But you need to check.

Similar issue - I ported my cover to a personal plan that I paid for so that I could have continuity of coverage rather than face a “pre existing condition” exclusion. It’s more expensive than just shopping for a plan in the open market but less expensive than having to pay for treatment for a condition personally

And I don’t think it makes any difference when the claim was approved. Each individual treatment incurs a cost in my case which sounds not dissimilar to yours. So any treatments after end of employment not covered by company medical insurance.