Health insurance glossary
Medical questionnaire and misrepresentation
Plain-English definition
A medical questionnaire is the set of health questions an insurer asks before issuing some policies, such as travel medical or individual health insurance. Your answers can decide whether you are accepted, what you pay and which conditions are covered. If an answer turns out to be inaccurate, the insurer may refuse a claim or cancel the policy; this is called misrepresentation.
By the HealthRate editorial desk
How it works
Questions commonly ask about diagnoses, medications, tests and hospital visits during a set period. Answer from your medical records rather than from memory, and keep a copy of the questionnaire as you submitted it.
Insurers may check answers when a claim is made, for example by requesting medical records. An inaccurate answer found at that point can affect the claim.
If you are unsure how to answer a question, ask the insurer before you buy and keep a written record of the answer you were given.
Why it matters
A policy that looked valid when you bought it can fail when you need it if an answer was wrong. Accurate answers at purchase are what make the coverage hold at claim time.