Lia C

Adding to this thread with info some may find useful: I can report that it is 100% possible to have a Thai spouse added as a beneficiary to your existing April International (France) policy—even if they are living in Thailand full time. I have now successfully done this with my wife after we returned to Thailand from our previous residence abroad. Previously my wife had a separate April International policy while she was herself an expat in the EU, but I don't believe this matters. They only seemed to care that we were married. Some other things to know: Unless your spouse is already insured with April International at an equal or superior level of benefits to you, they will need to submit a new health questionnaire and go through underwriting just as if they were applying for a new policy. Both you and your spouse will be insured on the same policy, so your specific plans will also be the same (you can't insure one of you at a higher/lower level of benefits). It appears that as long as your marriage is valid in France, it's valid for this purpose. This is important for same sex couples whose marriages are not considered legal in Thailand. We have only a US marriage certificate. We were not asked to have this translated or certified in France or the EU. We only needed to provide the following documents for my wife: Passport A special 1-page form (similar to an application form) Health questionnaire + any relevant medical records April states that your spouse will be added to your policy "on the 29th of the month following medical acceptance." In our case it was completed immediately after medical acceptance, about a week after we submitted the documents. Once your spouse is added, you'll receive an invoice for a pro-rated premium—to catch your spouse up to your existing policy term. You'll then renew together as a single policy.

I’ll check in with them. Thanks for the recommendation. If I remember correctly were you previously with AA Insure? Did you switch to AOC from AA after AA spun off the international plans to AA World? Curious as it was a very rocky and jarring shakeup in my experience.

@C3POThanks for this comment. This was exactly what I was hoping to find. Can anyone else (@Sheryl perhaps) verify that a Thai national living in Thailand can join an international expat health insurance policy (such as April International) if an expat is the main policyholder? I ask because my Thai spouse and I both currently have (separate) April International plans, as we were both living primarily in Germany for the past 2 years. We’re now moving back to Thailand and I don’t want to forfeit April’s excellent coverage for my spouse. Thailand-based alternatives are not ideal. Can we simply request that April merges my spouse’s policy with mine so that we can continue their coverage as-is?

Wow, that's insane. This seals it for me! Thank you again Sheryl and scubascuba

@Sheryl Re: outpatient medication, do OPD plans cover prescribed meds purchased at independent pharmacies? Or is it only if buying directly from the hospital at which the prescription was issued? In other words if expensive meds were to become a factor and an OPD plan theoretically became a good value, are you then limited to what one hospital can/will provide? Or can you procure what you need on your own as long as it fits the Rx? One new thing I'm now a bit concerned about is claims processing speed. My broker at AA mentioned that while they presently have no outstanding claims for their customers with April Thailand, apparently they have a handful that have been open and awaiting reimbursement from April International for "2-3 months". I'm wondering, all things considered, whether any circumstances at all might favor April Thailand over International? I don't see myself growing old in Thailand, so renewal beyond 90 isn't a big concern for me, and while I have definitely noted several superior aspects of International's coverage vs. Thailand's, I'm hesitating a bit around my fear of additional administrative headache. The $75/day toward private room limit on April International's Essential plan isn't super comforting either. I suppose if I intend to live anywhere other than the US after Thailand, having history with April International would be important, and having been a customer of April Thailand I assume would be effectively useless, which is significant. I'm guessing your claims and approvals experience with April International has overall been just as smooth as one could hope with any insurance here? Can you envision any case where you would actually recommend April Thailand over April International? Thanks so much, Sheryl!!

Hi Sheryl (and all), I'm also a US citizen considering April International (France) via AA Brokers and have been scrutinizing it against the April Thailand plan which was initially presented to me by them (despite my clear request for the true International policy). In particular I'm wondering: Can you comment on what the "more thorough and well-informed underwriting process" is actually like? Aside from the medical questionnaire, should I expect to need to grant access to my US health records? Will a social security number be required? I'm eager to understand why it's generally accepted as not worth it to buy OPD coverage when living in Thailand? Is it simply because one is unlikely to spend, out-of-pocket, an amount equal to or greater than the difference in premium between IPD and IPD+OPD? I'm 33, so for the Essential plan I'd pay $1162 for just IPD or $2499 for both (w/o deductible), so I can see how a 45,000 baht difference might not pay for itself, but I want to make sure I'm getting the full picture. One thing I'm concerned about is labs and more importantly, medications. If an OPD consultation results in a diagnosis that requires expensive medication (but that may not be officially defined as "life-saving"), those costs in addition to whatever labs and routine tests are needed to manage a condition, that could easily overtake that kind of figure. Anyone experienced a scenario like this? If considering OPD and comparing the France-based policy to the Thai-based one, is it accurate to state that April Thailand can direct-bill for OPD expenses while April International would only reimburse you after filing a claim? Anyone have any experience using the free telehealth services? My broker at AA said it's available in Thailand so wondering if it's of any actual use in practice? Lastly, does anyone have an especially helpful broker they can recommend to purchase April International through? My contact at AA has been very responsive and informative, but I'm somewhat turned off by the fact it took me asking literally 3 times before he acknowledged we had in fact not been discussing the International (France-based) policy I had clearly stated I was only interested in. Thanks so much for all your insights. They've been a huge help in this process for me.