What are "exclusions"?
When you look at a health insurance policy, written into the language of the policy will be certain exclusions. For example, in a health insurance policy they might say, "We'll cover pretty much everything, but we're not going to cover cosmetic surgery." If you want to have your face redone or if you want to have your nose done, those things fall under the realm of cosmetic surgery, and they're not going to pay for it. Even though we know that going to the gym and working out and having a massage are all excellent things for us, and eating nutritious food is really very good to keep us healthy, they'll probably have an exclusion about that, too. The purpose of most health insurance policies is to cover catastrophic loss. If you want to take care of yourself, the insurance company puts the onus of that onto you. That's one type of exclusion that's written right into the language of the policy. Now, years ago when you'd buy a health insurance policy, if they didn't like something about your health, let's say that you had chronic back pain and you're going to the doctor, they might approve the policy, but with an exclusion saying, "We'll cover every single thing that could possibly happen to you, but we're going to delete anything that relates to your back or spinal system." For some people, that would be a catastrophic exclusion. In today's world, most insurance companies either accept you for health insurance, or they decline you. Or they charge you a higher premium, but they don't put exclusions for specific conditions. That's probably good for some people and it's probably not good for other people.
