pablo el sueco

Ouch. Was the non-enrollment inadvertant or a strategy? Uh-oh. You got me started. It was a strategy that was based on the hope that Thailand Immigration rules would remain fair and static. I moved to Thailand 15 years ago knowing I was covered by my unlimited global health coverage (with deductible and out-of-pocket expenditures) provided by my pension arrangement. So, for most of that time I didn't want or need Medicare Part B. Then came stricter rules from Thailand Immigration; for example, I currently have to report to my local office 7 times every year (1--extension of stay, 4--address verifications, 2--bank book verifications...all on differing schedules). The official Immigration web application reports that I am on overstay by 381 days, and Immigration Officers laugh at me when I ask them to fix that. Now there is the concern that I may be forced to increase my throw-away Thai health coverage to 3 million baht, which at my age will cost a considerable amount -- actually an amount I have earmarked to pay for the deductible and out-of-pocket expenditures on my global policy. Thailand wants rich people to come and subsidize their economy in a big way. I'm not poor, but am far from rich. I thought I had it all planned out, but the rules are changing in a big way. So I decided I needed to prepare for the eventuality that I would have to repatriate -- hence I enrolled in Medicare Part B almost 7 years late, and am paying 60% penalty.

https://www.medicareinteractive.org/get-answers/medicare-health-coverage-options/original-medicare-enrollment/medicare-part-b-late-enrollment-penalties Read the paragraph -- How do you calculate your premium penalty? Plus, I speak from the experience of paying 60% late penalties for the past 30 months.

I would not characterize it as paying penalties on the penalties. That's not how it works. Each year, the government announces the standard premium for the year. If one has incurred no penalty, then one's annual payment is 100% of the standard premium. If one has incurred a 10% penalty, then one's annual payment is 110% of the standard premium. While a penalty due to late enrollment is applied year after year as long as one is enrolled in Part B, penalties do not compound upon each other from one year to the next.

The MoPH may not have the expertise to evaluate insurance policies, but private hospitals do -- it's their livelihood. The MoPH could easily modify their FOREIGN INSURANCE CERTIFICATE to be signed by a hospital administrator instead of an insurance company director. The retiree presents his policy information to the hospital and gets the INSURANCE CERTIFICATE signed by hospital administration. To apply for an extension of stay, the retiree submits the approved INSURANCE CERTIFICATE along with form TM7 to the local IO.

With regard to documentation that the IOs might accept, I wonder why they wouldn't want to rely on the methodology already employed by the local professionals. Based on what I've read on this thread, hospitals withhold service until they are convinced they will get reimbursed for it. This makes me conclude that hospitals must have a tried-and-true method for determining the legitimacy of a foreign insurance policy. Indeed, some insurers have established a network of hospitals in Bangkok that welcome their policies. If hospitals can verify insurance coverage, and are satisfied with their methodology, then surely this approach would be superior to anything the IO can develop for verifying insurance. Let Immigration establish a link to whatever the hospitals use. Or, alternatively, let the IO contact a Bangkok Hospital that is in the insurers network, and receive confirmation that way. The government wants to be assured that retirees are going to pay their medical bills. Hospitals do that already if I'm not mistaken.

Someone named Akhil handled my request most satisfactorily.

Please start anew. Send only this sentence to WISE:

6. Have a history of health problems? Most everyone has had a prior health issue by the time they reach retirement age. Most, if not all, policies in the "scheme" exclude prior health issues from being covered (with no reduction to the premium). 7. Already have superior coverage through a foreign insurer that is gleefully accepted by a network of Bangkok hospitals? It may be good enough to get you admitted to the hospital for a lengthy stay, but not good enough to get you admitted to Thailand for a stay past your OA extension.

True enough, but I just hope that this time official notices clearly and rigorously define the new policies so that local I/Os do not have the latitude to conjure up ridiculous interpretations. Also, I am feeble-minded when it comes to understanding the complicated realm of health insurance and Thailand hospitals admittance policies. I have superior global health insurance coverage that used to be accepted in a network of large Bangkok hospitals. To comply with government strictures now in force, have hospital admission staff been trained to examine the passport of the prospective patient for the existence of the O/A indicator so they can reject any foreign insurance and accept only the approved limited government-required coverage?

Yes, I am sure these were not the standard security questions. Security questions are not posed in an assaultive, belligerent context as were these "kyc" type of questions. Security questions do not leave me cowering.

I've banked with USAA for about 7 years. Every two years or so, they make me answer those questions when I try to login; I think it has happened three times now. At first I felt like they were being very confrontational, but I got used to it. After I answer the questions, my login is successful.

Sorry to hear that. I just had a different experience. An hour ago I did a small transfer to my Primary bank (Bangkok Bank) but it will not arrive until tomorrow. In my case, I had just received an email from WISE telling me they had tagged my account to use Bangkok Bank as the "partner" bank. I don't think it is enough to have Bangkok Bank be designated as the "Primary bank". I think you need to request, as I did a few days ago, that WISE "tag my account to only use Bangkok Bank (BBL) as the partner bank".

Unless I misunderstood his post, @mojaco has discovered the possibility that a transfer under 50,000 baht might travel the immediate route through Kasikorn to Bangkok Bank, and post there as a local transfer; whereas a transfer of 50,000 baht or greater might travel the delayed route and may indeed post next business day as a foreign transfer. If his hypothesis has some merit, and I personally believe it does, then your (KannikaP) transfer today would have been less than 50,000 baht -- could you confirm?

This thread introduced a problem affecting many of us, specifically, "Wise transfers not being processed as International". That is the topic. The thread title captured my immediate attention because I want my fund transfers into Thailand to reflect the ultimate reality when they post to my account. That shouldn't be too much to ask. God knows my particular Immigration Office has been inventing ways to make my relationship with them super challenging in recent years. I don't need any additional aggravation. I personally want to know all the pertinent facts regarding the very confusing situation introduced by this thread. If I am experiencing the problem with Bangkok Bank, I want to know what other options I have. If I am experiencing the problem with Wise ACH transfers, I want to know what other options I have. I find that this topic is not being waylaid by discussions that branch out to consider other banks, and other transfer systems. Such discussions help clarify the problem and its possible solutions.

I simply do not understand the dynamics here. Let us assume, when I do a funds transfer from abroad, that I want my bank passbook--and my annual bank statement--to show that the funds originated abroad. Given that premise, these are my 4 questions: 1 Is WISE now saying that my only course of action is to use the SWIFT procedure when I set up the WISE transfer? 2 Is WISE assuring me that when I use the SWIFT procedure, I will always get an indicator that the fund source is foreign? 3 Is WISE saying that I must use the SWIFT procedure regardless of which Thailand bank is the destination of the transfer? 4 Is WISE saying that if I don't use the SWIFT procedure through WISE then I must use a different transfer company?

I transfer from USA. I had the problem this morning.

My transfer this morning was not usual, though. On the first Send screen where I entered the amount of dollars I wanted to transfer, It said the deposit would take seconds; not the usual one to three days. Then after I finalized the transaction a few screens later, the deposit into my bank was indeed immediate. That has never happened before. A transfer on the weekend has never posted to my account until Monday or often Tuesday.

Yes. I scrolled to the bottom of the list and selected Funds for Long Term Stay. I'm always very careful to do that.

It happened to me at 5:45 am today. Should have posted as "International Funds Transfer". Posted instead as "Transfer from Account at Other Bank". Instead of the normal wait time of 24 hours or so, it posted immediately.

In 2019, I simply downloaded the form, CMS-40B-E, filled it in, signed it, and sent it to Manila. I did not communicate with Manila in any other way. In the phone number field, I entered my land line; for the area code I entered 662, and completed the field with the last 7 digits of my land line. In the Mailing Address field, I entered the standard first line info followed by the Tambon and Amphoe. In the City field, I entered my province, the postal code, and Thailand. I sent the form to Manila on 2 February. On May 19, Baltimore sent me a letter informing me that my Part B coverage would start in July. Sounds right. I only sent page two

The penalty is recalculated every year based on the new rate. If the new rate is 240 monthly, then the rate plus 50% penalty would be 360 monthly.

You are correct. Almost 7 years after my IEP ended, I enrolled in Part B during the General Medicare Enrollment Period in 2019. My monthly premium, including the 60% late enrollment fee, was first withheld from my Social Security benefit July 3, 2019. I did this not because I had any plan to repatriate, but because, like you, I was wary of being forced to return to the US due to some unforeseen event -- and not having proper and complete medical coverage immediately upon arrival. At the time, in 2019, I was unaware that Thailand would soon force me to buy unwanted and unneeded insurance due to my O/A retirement. Now I consider myself over-insured due to having Global HealthSelect Secondary Insurance through my pension provider Medicare Part B Unwanted Thai insurance I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank KClark for his alert about MAGI. My Medicare premium would have increased beyond the standard rate in a couple of years if I hadn't seen his alert and taken action to reduce my investment in municipal bonds.

I understand you wish to enrol during your IEP, and that you're concerned about the processing involved with having to go through Manila. It was many years after my IEP, but I enrolled in Part B in 2019 by going through Manila. I couldn't find any other way to do it as an expat in Thailand. Manila and Baltimore handled my enrollment swiftly and smoothly. I realise my case is different from yours, but I wanted to share my positive experience with enrolling through Manila. Good luck in your endeavor.

I am convinced that my immigration officer does not enter my data--and her failure to do so is intentional. She charges 60 baht to process a TM47 that is submitted via a representative. Since no receipt is given, I assume this fee is not entered into any official accounts bookkeeping. The officer knows I always send a rep with my TM47, so she has no incentive to update my record on the online database.