secondary insurance

hi all. no idea if anyone can help me with this but thought it’d be worth a try to ask.

i have a rare condition (chiari malformation) that my HMO provider (kaiser in california) does not believe requires surgery. i traveled and paid out of pocket to see a specialist (neurosurgeon) out of state who recommended surgery. my employer only offers kaiser hmo, so i’m looking to get additional PPO insurance to cover the cost of the surgery out of state. this is a high-risk brain surgery and often has complications when performed by a neurosurgeon who doesn’t specialize in chiari surgery.

my question is, given that this is a pre-existing condition that i already know will require brain surgery, will i be able to get the secondary insurance to cover it? i’d like to keep my hmo via my employer since i’ve been established with kaiser my entire life, but need a PPO in addition to be able to afford this surgery. hopefully this makes sense. i (very obviously) don’t understand how different health insurance works.

submitted by /u/lindseythebee
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