The International Schools Review Forum

Has anyone had any experience moving to a new school after being diagnosed with something that could be categorised as a pre-existing condition?

I have been an international teacher for almost 10 years. I work at an amazing school in a country that doesn't suit me. (I've been here a fair number of years so I'm positive about that!) I was recently diagnosed with an easily manageable condition that sounds fairly dramatic (epilepsy caused by a brain tumor). I have some concerns about relocating to a different school/country with possibly a new health insurer given my new situation. Any advice or sharing of experiences would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

Check with the schools. Many use policies that cover preexisting conditions, in recognition of their teachers nomadic lifestyle. Not all , of course, but you have options.

Much will depend on where you are going. if you relocate to a region with a social insurance scheme, then the national health care system will provide whatever reasonable and appropriate medical care there is.

With a private medical care plan, when the steel meets the stone, as long as your medical care consists of exams and medication the pre-existing condition isnt much of an issue. The problem is going to be if/when you need brain surgery or a major invasive procedure. If you have problems youre going to run into provisions that allows the IS to dismiss you if your absent more than 30 continuous days, for example. So you have an episode, they do surgery, and then your recovery is 3 months. Youre dismissed, and then your medical coverage vanishes. You then find out that the procedure wasnt covered, and nor is your followup care.

When we changed schools we were right in the middle of my husband's chemotherapy. We had to navigate some technicalities with the new insurance company for our new school, but there was never a question about not insuring. When we moved to our current school, again--no questions asked.

As far as disclosing to your school, that depends on your specific issue. We had to tell one school because my husband wasn't going to be able to start the year on time. For our current school, he was in remission, so nothing needed to be said--there were/are no on-going issues related to the cancer, so it wasn't an issue for working.