Hello Folks,
A couple days ago, I saw a terrible motorcycle accident happen. Person involved was laying literally 10 meters in front of the doorstep of a private/semi-public hospital.
3 Pickup trucks (Po Teck Tung) arrived at scene to dispatch body/injured to hospitals. To my surprise none of them transferred them to the hospital which was literally 10 meters down from where the accident happened!
Yet this kept me wondering... I'm retired from working in Thailand and have my social security as health coverage (which i only use for minor / OPD issues). I still carry a Private health insurance covering accident/IPD (serious stuff), but as I'm aging and cost of private insurance will at some point become too expensive for me, I may as well just be left with Thai social security system alone.
Now that made me thinking, what would happen *(hypothetically speaking) if I got a serious accident (or heart attack/stroke) and am not conscious anymore to explain (Po Teck Tung or Ambulance) which insurance I have and which hospital I prefer to be brought to?
I can imagine the following situation... Por Teck Tung / Medical staff see me (foreigner) and immediately expect this person to have a private health insurance, hence you'll be sent to the Private / best (read most expensive) hospital in the area. Then after waking up from a coma just to realize / shock you are in a hospital you can not afford and stuck with bills/debt you will never be able to cover.
Anyone else here ever though of this? Or am I over thinking this and my anxiety taking over here?
Anyway, is there anything that could help the authorities/medical personal to know if I'm covered under SSO by looking at my passport, or best to carry always my Pink ID Card and a note in a my wallet in Thai language explaining which insurance I'm covered with and which hospitals I'd prefer to be brought to in case of emergency?
Any other ideas / suggestions on this?
Cheers,
FB