Sheryl

Not usually the case in Thailand. Here, only a few have a degree beyond bachelor's. There was an American audiologist (PHD) on this board some years ago who commented on the huge difference and the absence of audiologists with doctorate degrees in Thailand.

Thai practices and regs are quite different. It is a whole other experience than being insured by an international company. Insurers are explicitly allowed by the Insurance Commission allowed to raise premiums on an individual basis based on claims history, on top of age and inflation hikes. This has huge consequences and IMO undermines the whole point of being insured. This is not allowed by Western insurance regulators. Thai insurers often deny claims on grounds that something was pre-existing despite having supposedly done full medical underwriting in which the client's medical history was accurately reported. Often the grounds for saying something was "pre-existing" are shaky or downright irrational, medically speaking; these determinations are made by persons with no medical background. For example, I have seen claims for cardiac problems denied because the person acknowledged on their application that they had ever experienced reflux/heartburn (who hasn't?). Claims for respiratory problems denied because the application form stated the person had "ever": had a common cold (who hasn't?) etc etc. Similar irrational links made from things they find in the medical records. Application form health histories are poorly designed, and poorly understood/interpreted by the insurer. There is of course some variation in how bad these sort of practices are by company, and such behavior is more likely with claims occurring in the first year or two of being insured, but there are some companies who seem to do this pretty much all the time throughout the length of the policy. And they all do it at least sometimes. The above sort of thing is why one reads so many posts claiming "health insurance is a scam" or (in effect) "there is no telling if they will actually pay out on a claim." This is all coming from people's experiences with local companies. By contrast, international insurers tend to have very clear health history intake forms, identify at the time of policy issuance what, if anything, is considered pre-existing, and unless there was something omitted or wrongfully stated on the application, there are not going to be any surprises later.

You are referring to Cigna Thailand, a Thai company. Cigna Global will accept applications up to age 99 or 100 (I forget which). And are more likely to over insurance with exclusions than referuse cover altogether though it will depend on the nature of the health conditions. In addition they come under UK/EU regs nto Thai insurance regs, which is a big plus.

Yes, one would have to also qualify the life insurance, and the same health conditions that make it hard to get health insurance will likely be barriers to that.

to be fair - if you had a blocked artery, you do have CAD. The stent will have unblocked the affected artery (for now) but does not change the underlying disease process that led to the blockage. You have cardiovascular disease and are at above averge risk for future cardiac events. And people who have had polyps are indeed at above average risk of colon cancer. These are facts. And they are why it is best to get a good insurance cover before you get older and keep it for life. Once older, one does indeed start to have these pre-existing conditions. Insurance is based on statistical odds and premiums are calculated based on average risk in the overall population. Allowing people to enter the pool of insured people whose risk profile, at entry, is not average does not work unless the insurer is able to either exclude the relevant condition or apply a higher tailored premium, and determining the latter requires fairly sophisticated actuarial computing which international insurers are more likely to be able to do than local ones.

The drawback to this is 1) - a major expense could occur in the first year or two , before you have accumulated enough to cover it - or in the first year or two of replenishment (see below) 2) - you need a way to replenish funds as they are used. Or else a plan to leave Thailand at that point and ability to do so. I am not saying no one should self-insure. For some, there is no alternative; for others, the alternatives just aren't feasible (e.g. extremely high premiums for policy with far-reaching exclusions). But these 2 limitations need to be understood. Really once should start with a much larger sum than you mention and then add to that - and one still needs to figure out plan for replenishment. Your assets can be rapidly depleted.

Thai companies are more ikely to refuse to insure people with pre-existing conditions than international ones (though the latter will likely apply exclusions). If you can get a Thai policy you can get an international one. If under 65 there are many more options than just Cigna. You should work with a good broker. Worst case scenario, if no one will insure you, get the best accident insurance you can and put aside as much cash as you can as self insurance -- and plan on using government hospitals for anything major.

You do not need a referral from elsewhere. MOST specialty clinics can be directly Siriraj has dual pricing. I don't know if Chula does or not. Siriraj has s private wing where you can directly access the top specialists (in public channel you will deal mostly with interns and residents, and doctors have limited time per patient). But prices are on par with mid range private hospitals. Chula has an "after hours" clinic where you can also directly see senior doctors and it is reasonable in cost (but of course stillmore than the public channel).

Was your olicy with Cigna Global or Cigna Thailand? Sounds like the latter.

You need a lot more than an alternative tablet. You need a through evaluation by a better doctor. Where in Thailand are you located?

I would be very, very surprised if the policy does not contain language allowing the company to raise rates based on claims history. That language is standard in Thai health insurance policies. Raising premiums after someone had a claim enables the insurer to recoup at least part of their payout, maximizing their profits. Since Thailand (unlike most western countries) allows this practice, hard to imagine why a Thai insurer would not do this.

It depends on the size of the claim, type of problem and the insurer. They are allowed under thai regs to increase by as much as 25% each year based on claims history. And they are nto required to drop the premium back down. The big problem comes as one gets older, claims start to get more frequent and these 25% rises on top of what are already increased premiums due to age can rapidly add up. I have seen a lot of people totally priced out this way, at an age and state of health where they have no chance to change companies, and where it is also hard to relocate back to farangland (though some have simply had to). This is why I do not recommend Thai companies for people planning to live out the rest if their lives here. For someone younger and here temporarily, can be OK.

Not if there is no identifiable cause of the pain in the tooth, which seems to be the case here.

No infection has been identified. More than one dentist has examined and found the tooth healthy, no infection, no problem. Either they both missed something, or there is no indication for extraction and indeed the pain may be due to something else like TMJ trauma from earlier dental work. Either way he needs to see another, better dentist

An ethical dentist will indeed not pull out a healthy tooth. Extraction has long term consequences for your other teeth. It is also possible that your pain & discomfort is not from the tooth itself but other cause. It is not unusual to have TMJ pain after lengthy dental work, for example. In which case extraction not only would nto help, but would further aggravate the pain. Where in Thailand are you located?

That is inaccurate. (though widely misreported this way). I did work on this for WHO and went into depth into Lao laws. There was never a law stating that abortion was illegal except to save a woman's life. The criminal code does not define the circumstances under which abortion is or is not legal, but rather just lists penalties for “illegal abortion”. Abortion is legal if government authorities approve it and otherwise not. Government hospitals receive requests for abortions and grant some of them. As of when I researched this in 2013, the level of decision-making differed from province to province, in some cases resting within the hospital and in others involving local authorities, and there was a lack of uniformity in criteria applied. I was told verbally that this was in some manner addressed later on, I don't know how - could have been just internal Ministry of Health circular.

It was already legal on demand up to 12 weeks. This new law expands it to 20 weeks

Actually I believe Laos has recently liberalized its rules.

Up to what age do they accept new applications? And do they guarantee lifetime renewal? Note that this is a Thai company and thus under Thai insurance regs. So they can make individual upward adjustments to your premiums (on top of age related increases) based on claims.

I frankly doubt doctor at either Samitivej or Bumrungrad will agree to PRP fr your condition as it simply is not indicated/proven to work for that. I am sure they do HA at Samitivej. But the very best knee doctor is at Bumrungrad,

Rehabilitation services tend to be weak in Thailand and Hua Hin is something of a backwater medically speaking. To get real speech therapy from a therapist fluent in English, your brother is going to need to go elsewhere. Are there friends/family in Bangkok he could stay with? Alternatively, there is a very good rehab hospital in the north of Thailand where he could be admitted fro a while. They also have facilities where he could live and get part time care. He'd have to travel up there by plane or train. https://mckean.or.th/mckean-senior-care-hospital/ https://mckean.or.th/dok-kaew-gardens/ Is a return to his home country for rehab a possibility?

Your poor experience is not related to being on social security but rather to your specific nominated hospital. Which you can, and should, change. Ask your local SS office for a list of hospitals accepting new SS enrollments.

https://www.yanhee.net/cosmetic-services/varicose-vein-treatment/ Cost will depend on type of treatment and that in turn depends on detailed assessment of the varicosities.

On the insurance form, just answer the questions asked, truthfully. Not all insurers ask about prior denials. However I advised you to tell the broker so that she would be alerted to your situation and better able to advise you - possibly she might know of a better insurer to try, or know if there is any chanceApril would accept someonewho had cancer, etc etc. Broker is not going to separately share any details with the insurer

HA injections can be given at any stage though benefit will be more if things have not advanced to to the point where it is just bone on bone. The best way to get an answer specific to your situation to that is to consult a specialist. Which you will have to do anyway in order to get the injections.