tonray

Well it is raining here this morning.....why I keep getting up at 4 AM lately is a mystery likely to be solved before this error

And because 'controlled' high blood pressure is my pre-existing condition...this 3 million baht of insurance that may ease the concerns of the Thai authorities about scandals...will pay for no cardiovascular treatments whatsoever, or kidney disease or stroke. Useless....I have maintained insurance from my early days in Thailand (6 years) but with the recent changes...it becomes clear I have no choice but to buy the minimum required to pass Immigration and prepare to self insure the rest...not optimum but paying for insurance that excludes 75% of likely illness for an aging male (ouch that hurts to say out loud) does not make good sense. Perhaps if I can find a catastrophic cancer care / accident policy then that would be useful...otherwise...doubting it right now.

It's not brain surgery per se but computer directed radiation therapy for tumours.

Well I'm grateful they'll bring me out of my coma long enough to get my credit card details anyway

If you get your booster thru the legit channels it will show up in Mor Prom which has a digital copy of your cert and lists all your shots and test results if any.

I hope it wasn't affecting your immigration account, because they won't care what the reason was you dipped below 800k

The crux for me is I'll probably buy the cheapest available plan with highest deductible (lmg) which of course defeats the whole idea of protecting Thailand. To make it palatable I'll forget extensions, cancel my Aetna policy with all the exclusions anyway, keep my 800k in the US stock market and get a new OA every two years so at least I'll never need to visit those unpleasant cretins at N******ri immigration (assuming online 90 day reporting works)

Actually the Affordable Care Act in USA does allow for insurance and treatment of pre-existing conditions.

Every OA initial holder who has extended, requires 800 k in the bank.. In addition to insurance...

Correct. I must have sounded like an idiot telling my GF to get a prorated insurance refund because she bought a new car and sold her old car 3 months after paying for a year of new insurance on the old. She looked at me strangely and said the insurance goes with the car.

I think the confusion is clear....ha ha ha. What all these ambiguous requirements do is cause the Immigration offices to just say..."well it's not clear...so let's require both !

Bottom line for me if it's required when I do my extension next year and I cannot get away to switch (which might be shooting one's self in the foot because if they add it to O visa extensions also...by the time it happens may be too old to qualify...catch22), I will likely dump my real Aeatna policy (which excludes many things preexisting but is real insurance) for a cheaper OA LMG policy which covers nothing..but is affordable. SMH....again

I was only called via phone the first time I transferred to Thailand. Just to make sure it was me and not fraudulent. After that never get any issue, initiate transfers online without any hassle. Charles Schwab...the best

yeah...except that if you need to spend it in an emergency you violate the terms of the extension...it's all ridiculous without any thought or analysis.

In actuality, increasing the pool of available insured expats would reduce rates so they might be more affordable. Right now, underwriting is based upon a smal pool of OA visa holders/extenders, which does little to protect the Thai medical system from being stiffed and does nothing to protect the expats who must use massive deductibles to buy the 'visa' policy.

I guess the assumption is that marriage automagtically precludes you from needing expensive healthcare as your wife likelly will kill you off before too long. ????

Will it cover payments to a foreign hospital ? (NO)

what they meant to say is 'stopping billing problems before they happen by keeping your passport until you pay'

You mean I have to buy one more villa to qualify for Thailand ?

You're right...but all these ministers are knee deep in Thai businesses, it's not unusual for government officials here to be majority stakeholders in Thai insurance or other businesses. This is a very closeknit system with zero controls for conflict of interest.

The prospect of spending 8 months here as a tourist (yeah...that old visa run nonsense again), 3 months in Malaysia and 1 month back in the USA for a new tourist visa is looking increasingly like my future. But it also means...no condo purchase and I may hold off on auto buying until we see where this goes....PITA again

I think the reality is for many of us (me included) is that we will try and make the requirements so as to not upset our chosen way of life..but there will come a point where monthly costs vs benefits dictate that I probably won't be here forever.

yeah...they go up significantly after 60...just be forewarned

And that was only a COVID policy, correct ? At 63 I pay currently about $2000 US for 1,000,000 baht coverage with exclusions. AT 3 million who knows , I also pay 7700 baht annually for 400/40 coverage. I sent off to Aetna a request to quote at 3 mil coverage...we'll see how much it turns out to be. If they add outpatient...that adds typically 40-50K per year to premium on top.

Agreed...but pre-existing conditions not covered. For example, I have controlled high blood pressure with meds. My policies state that anything remotely related to HBP is not covered, including kidney disease, heart problems, stroke, etc etc. Just covered about 90% of the ailments that take down majority of older men. And your coverage was likley for 90 days, how much vs for 1 year...every year ?