Don't know if this will be of any help but here's our experience. After John's 1st surgery and radiation it was clear that he would not go back to work for many months. He applied for and qualified for Social Security Disability. When he was accepted for disability, his Med. Ins. Company [of 14 yrs. standing] cancelled his policy because he was no longer part of the employee group. They did offer him another type of policy, at a higher rate and with a lifetime maximum of $150,000. It was laughable. Our Ins agent advised John to apply to a new company [knowing that he would be denied] When we had proof of being denied, John then qualified for the State of Arkansas "Comprehensive Health Ins. Pool" administered by Blue Cross-Blue Shield. It is cheaper than his original Ins., could not exclude cancer and the deductible is reasonable. The point to this is that perhaps the state you reside in has a comparable Ins. pool. It's worth checking into. The CHIP's Ins. had saved our financial like from ruination.
JAH- I know this may not help you since you are out of country, but what if you worked for a U.S. company? Amy