Health insurance glossary
Look-back period
Plain-English definition
In travel and visitor medical insurance, the look-back period is the stretch of time before your coverage starts during which a pre-existing condition must have stayed stable for the policy to cover it. Each policy sets its own look-back period and its own definition of stable, and the length can vary with your age and the plan you choose.
By the HealthRate editorial desk
How it works
Policies commonly treat a condition as stable when there has been no new diagnosis, no change in treatment or medication and no new symptoms during the look-back period. Under some policies, any change in dose counts as a change.
If a condition was not stable for the whole look-back period, a claim related to it may be refused, even when the rest of the policy is valid.
Check which date the look-back period counts back from in your policy, and compare your medical records against it before you buy.
Why it matters
Claims involving an ongoing condition can turn on stability. Knowing your policy's look-back period, and checking your records against it, tells you before you leave whether that condition is covered.
Not to be confused with
Often called the stability period. Some policies use both terms; what matters is the length and definition in your own policy wording.