Sheryl

Both points are true. But there is no medical urgency on the wait and you won't be in hospital very long. So it really comes down to your preference and how much the cost savings are worth to you....and how bothered you are by govt hosp condiuions/vibe, which is very individual. You will end up with the same medical result. If you go public try to get a private room (extra cost but usually not more than 1500 baht a day). That way you can have a Thai speaker stay with you as the nurses etc will not speak English (their English often isn't great at a private hosp eithef but st least there is some).

Probably. But you could also apply online for evisa while in the US just put expected travel date as Dec 27 or later.

The visa expiry date is the last date on which you can enter/re-enter the country on that visa. It is not the date you can stay in Thailand until. Upon each entry you will get a 90 day permission to stay and this can extend beyond the visa expiry date. You could leave the country in late December and get a stay up to late March on return (as long as you re-enter not later than Dec 26). You can't get a new visa before the expiry date of the old one. And no reason to since, as above, you can stay here until next March if you time your entries right. When does your current permisfion of stay expire? (It will be earlier than thd visa expiration dste).

I have had Cigna and you really want a broker with it as their customer service is very inefficient. Nothing sinister just disorganized and ditsy. Constant staff turnover of young inexperienced people. I think the reason they are able to keep their premiums lower than most is that they cut corners on admin.

Not the same entity at all. You don't want Cigna Thailand you want Cigna Global. May have to use a broker to get it.

Moved to Health forum. Skin cancers are rare in Thailand and experience with them is limited here. One has to consider not only the skill of the detmatologist but also of the pathologist. The best doctor for this is in Pattaya: https://www.bangkokpattayahospital.com/en/doctor-profile?v_id=7&depid=2 US Board certified and worked in US for many years; specifically specializes in skin cancer. Well worth the trip to see her. If unable/unwilling to go to Pattaa second best option would be the government Institutd od Dermatology https://www.iod.go.th/en/

Not a feasible business model. If all ages paid same premium almost no younger people would get it as their premiums eould be absurdly high relative to their medical risk. Premiums do not "spiral out of control" due to age. Age related increases are fully knowable in advance. Where rates do really spiral is with Thai issued policies where clams based increases are tacked on as well. Those, you cannot predict in advance and they can be considerable. This can be avoided by getting an internationally issued policy.

Pacific Prime is a broker.

Countless women get this in Thailand. Any hospital as well as many clinics (including government health centers) can provide it. Not expensive. All Thai women know where to get this. Effectiveness is about the same as the plll if pill is taken regularly without fail. The main advantage is no need to remember to take a pill daily -- but of course have to remember to get the injection every 3 months and for some women that is harder than remembering a pill everyday. Menstrual side effects are very common with it. Other side effects experienced by somme women are nausea, depression, headaches and hot flashes. If it is desired to prevent pregnancy for a long time, an alternative is the contraceptive implant which goes under the skin. It is same class of drug (progestin) but unlike the injections which give a high blood level initially that then goes down, the blood levels are constant and at lower level so may be better tolerated by some women, and no need to remember anything. However it does require a minor surgical procedure to insert it and also to remove it, for which reason I suggest any woman considering it to first try a progestin only pill for a few months. If that suits, so likely will the implant.

Where in Thailand? Sounds possibly like trigeminal heuralgia

A good broker provides assistance afterwards with any claims issues or reimbursement delays that may arise. They have back channels to the insurance companies so can get a response more easily/quickly. There is no added cost to the insured person in using a broker. Since you can change brokers at any time, even after policy has been issued, and there is a premium payment each year, the broker had incentive to keep clients satisfied. And of course they also care about word of mouth endorsements, satisfied clients refer others.

The claim was denied (and his policy voided) because the insurer discovered he had pre-existing BPH which he had not declared on his application.

Several posts have been edited for civility. No name calling, please.

Not with reputable international insurers

Try Fascinos near Siriraj hospital in Thonburi (there are some other large pharmacies right near it as well) 979 Arun Amarin Rd · +66 88 290 9871

Try Fascinos near Siriraj hospital in Thionri (there are some other large pharmacies right near it as well) 979 Arun Amarin Rd · +66 88 290 9871

All 3 of these options (April, Cigna, ACS) are viable and there are others as well. I don't think staying with ACS travel insurance is feasible if living in Thailand year round, but ACS has regular expat policies as well. Just be sure to get a policy issued internationally, not from a Thai insurer (and note that there is an April Thailand and a Cigna Thailand which is not the same as Cigna Global and April International out of France). And get through a broker. The Thai based brokers usually can't sell you an internationally issued policy. You can try these brokers specializing in international expat insurance: [email protected]. https://www.aoc-insurancebroker.com/ Broker will give you a chart showing different options and their costs. Usually not worth getting outpatient cover (virtually doubles premium costs and outpatient care here is not costly) , but make sure the inpatient only policy includes day surgeries, outpatient cancer care and dialysis.

Yes, there have been many complaints on this board. I believe most relate to claims in the first year or two of a policy, but not all. See https://aseannow.com/topic/1186192-pacific-cross-cover-reviews/ among other threads (can google PC Insurance + site:aseannow.com). I have also heard PC excludes some age related conditions like cataract and prostate problems absolutely, but am not sure if that applies to all or just people who enroll past a certain age. And there have been reports of them adding exclusions years after a policy was issued, based on a claim (i.e. you have condition X one year with a related claim, on your next renewal it appears as an exclusion even though you did not have it at time of initial enrollment). This may be timebound and seems to be related to a general policy exclusion of "chronic" conditions. If growing old here you absolutely do not want a policy that contains any sort of exclusion for "chronic" conditions...since the development of chronic health probolems is pretty universal as people age. And, like most Thai insurers they can and will raise your premiums based on claims history - by as much as 25% in a given year and that is on top of age related and inflationary increases. For anyone planning to grow old here, this is a major consideration. Thai based insurers do not have as good or as professional a record for claims management compared to international insurers who offer expat policies, and once past about age 60- 65 the international policies cost about the same or even less. International insurers are not allowed to raise premiums based on claims history, and any disputes go through channels in their company of registration, where insurance regulation is usually much tighter than in Thailand. On the other hand it is true that switching insurers can be problematic. If you then have a claim in the first year or so of the new policy it will certainly get more scrutiny than it otherwise would (accidents excepted). That does not mean it won't be paid, but it will be scrutinized especially if it is in the first year of the policy and a condition which by its nature might have been present before hand. And if you have anything that might be considered a pre-existing condition (anything you take medication for; anything that required medical treatment in the past say 5-10 years; any abnormal finding on lab test or check-up even if not currently requiring treatment - e.g. elevated PSA, elevated cholesterol, early cataract) these will likely be excluded or else you may have to pay a "premium load" to include it - you will know for sure once your application is reviewed, a process that is more detailed and lengthy than with a Thai insurer (but unlike the latter, as long as you withheld nothing, leads to a clear policy where you can be sure what is covered and what not). Personally if it were me, I'd make a move to an internationally issued policy now if you are committed to living here for the rest of your life. Now is the time to do so, before you get any older, or develop/learn of any health conditions. Like any policy, an international expat policy should be gotten via a broker and your current broker is unlikely to be able to help with anything but a Thai issued policy. I used AA brokers in the past but they have now restructured and there is a separate entity called AA-World handling internationally issued policies and I have so far no experience with them. Contact is [email protected]. As this is a quite recent restructuring the website is nto yet operational https://aa-world.com/ There are other brokers foir international expat policies as well, such as https://www.aoc-insurancebroker.com/ Personally I have April International from France (not ot be confused with April Thailand) but above brokers can give you a comparison chart that includes more options as well. Be sure to look not just at current premiums but how much they will increase with age, and deductible options. Also make sure hospitalization-only policy includes day surgeries, outpatient cancer care and outpatient dialysis.

Also brand names: Mometasone Sandoz Mometasone Teva Nasospray The last one is locally made so should be less expenfive. Any large Thai pharmacy will have at least one of these brands. Where in Thailand are you?

Length of stay is largely irrelevant. Room charges are the least of cost of hospital care. In the case referenced, he may have been administered a clot busting drug or other delicate neurosurgical intervention. These are expensive. With an acute heart attack, angiography and stent will run that much or more (depending in number of stents needed) but if stenting is successful, the stay will be short. Many similar examples of high cost/low stay duration hospitalizations. Conversely you could be hospitalized for several weeks and still have a modest bill, if no surgery or expensive procedures were involved.

This "pricing out" based on claims is unique to Thai companies. Western country insurance regulations do not allow it, premium is not affected by your claims history. To me, a policy which can raise your rates based on claims history (on top of the ordinary inflationary and age increase) defeats the whole point of insurance. But Thailand's insurance regs allow it, so most of them do it. And indeed, people do get priced out and then unable to get another policy. This alone is an overwhelming reason to stick with internationally issued policies. Premiums will go up with age (though to a much lesser extent than the Thai policies in the older age brackets - I have seen some where the premium at say age 80 actually equalled the maximum coverage, which is absurd). But this is predictable, and there will be no add on charge because you had a claim or developed a chronic health condition. Some Thai insurers also cancel policies at a certain age. And I have heard of some introducing exclusions after the fact, i.e. year 1 you develop a certain condition and have a claim related to it, year 2 that condition becomes an exclusion. Western insurance regs would not allow that either.

The cost difference would largely be explained by the OPD cover which I do not have. Male sex and pre-existing hypercholsterolemia might add a bit more but the OPD is the main factor. Note that April hospitalization-only cover includes day surgeries as well as outpatient cancer care (chemo etc) and dialysis. It also covers outpatient care related to a subsequent hospitalization (I think up to 30 days before admission) and outpatient care related to a hospitalization up to 30 day after discharge. With the most costly OPD covered and given that including elective OPD cover more of less doubles the premium it goes not make sense to me to have it.

At the higher ages (say 70 on up) this compares unfavorably to the best internationally issued expat policies...which also provide more cover. But make no mistake, with any policy premiums will rise with age. So will the likelihood of needing to use the insurance.

That is not quite it. The insurer has calculated what they are likely to have to pay out for claims across the whole pool of insured people by age group (understanding that there willl be people with no claims, small claims and some with very large claims in that mix) and base that along with their administrative costs and profit to set premiums. The only assumption about individual policy holders is that they are at average risk for their age at time of initial enrollment (hence the importance of knowing of any prior or pre-existing conditions). The insurer fully expects to take a "loss" on some policies and that is fine as long as the overall payouts for all policies is not higher than projected for a sustained period of time. Getting this calculation correct is complex and there are insurers out there new to the game who badly underestimate (or intentionally underprice at first to lure in new customers). . These end up either going bankrupt or having to drastically raise rates dcross the board. The longer the insurer has been in business and the larger their pool of insured persons, the less risk there is of this. When one decides to get insurance of any type it is with the understanding that odds favor paying more on premiums over the life of the policy than receiving in benefits but that there is a possibility of the opposite happening and that which group you will be in, is impossible to predict.

You can. But you have to start while younger and still healthy. The problem is that retirees, by definition, tend to already be older when they move to Thailand and often already have health conditions.