tonydabbs

My 82 year old father is coming to Thailand for a 3 week holiday and he may not be able to cover himself for health care/whatever from Australia. Does anyone know of Thai companies that will cover him when he is here? Bupa??

No one here will sell him coverage for illness at age 82, but he can get up to 500,000 baht coverage for accidents.

In addition to premiums and likelihood of paying off, one of the considerations in choosing health insurance is how long you can retain it. I have read that if you insure with BUPA before age sixty, they guarantee your right to renew for the rest of your life. Has anyone here got this coverage? I am not sure what it means if there is not also a restriction on the increase in premiums.

We may resettle in Thailand after I retire and I am thinking of buying insurance from BUPA while still here in the US and under sixty, so that I can be sure to be able to renew later in Thailand. Anyone have any advice on this strategy?

In terms of very high claims, BUPA assures me that they won't incease the premium by more than 25% per year (related to claims). That's respectable - others don't have that limit. With or without claims, though, the premium will automatically increases by 10% per year after age 65. Also, there are across the board rate increases for all insureds. But, BUPA will refund 10% of your premium by check if you haven't had any claims during the previous year.

If you are talking about buying from BUPA in the States and then renewing with BUPA Thailand - No! No! No! You can't do that. But, if you know a way to buy from BUPA Thailand while in the States, it might be a good idea to do so. That's because BUPA has been telling me that they are dropping the maxium age for lifetime renewal down to age 56. They told me me that 7 months ago, though, and still haven't done it.

Just been trying to sort out some medical insurance for a new baby, I have been told that a baby cannot have his or her own insurance and has to tag along on the policy of their Mother or Farther, is that right ?

Also as a new baby has no medical history, what if the baby develops something serious and not normal ( heart problem or something like that ) what happens then ? they can't say you should have told us about this before as the problem would be a new one ?

So what I would like to know is...

Is it possible for the baby to have cover in his or her name and not part of another policy.

Yes. Thai Health Insurance (THI) will do it. They are the only health insurer in Thailand that will.

I'll be moving to Thailand to live within the next six months and was wondering about health insurance. I got an online quote from BUPA that came out at over $8000 a year (I'm 65) and thought that seemed pretty excessive. Anyone recommend something cheaper than that?

If you are 65 or older you can't get BUPA Thailand insurance. Nor can you qualify for TV insurance through THI. Actually, you don't have many options here. But, TV can place you with LMG.

Offering cost examples for different procedures is not a sensible exercise as so may variables come into it.

Example, where you live and what type of hospital, if you have insurance etc.

One example to show how it is not possible :

A client required his 'knees' rebuilt so he went to 3 hospitals for quotes. The top quote was 'somewhere (that's what they said) over 300,000 Baht, the middle 125,000 baht and the lowest 80,000 Baht. Now the best bit is the 80,000 Baht hospital he saw the same surgeon as in the most expensive hospital !

As we suggested before, go to your local preferred hospital and ask - very simple and you get the correct answer.

My benchmark hospital is Bumrungrad. The insurance department there told me that most of the high-end claims are under 1 million baht. But in the most serious cases requiring more than 3 months stay and 24 hours per day constant care the bill could reach as high as 5 to 10 million baht.

For those talking about self-insurance: That might be okay if you have a lot of liquid assets at your disposal. A more practical way to go though would be to ask TV find you a high coverage , high deductible (excess) plan like THI Maxi Healthy MC 12000 or LMG Maxi Care.

Dear all,

I am relocating to Thailand to work soon. My (Thai) employer mentioned having a basic health insurance scheme, but also mentioning it won´t be up to western standards.

Therefore I am looking into a medical / health insurance, but do feel a bit nervous of insuring with a company that may decide to kick me out after a year when struck by bad luck (either big accident or serious illness).

Additionally, I am also looking into an insurance for disability. As I am form Holland, known for its quite extensive state benefits schemes, I do feel some natural urge to cover some benefits in case I won´t be able to work anymore.Thus I am trying to find something that covers me if I can not work for a long time due to an accident / illness. The life insurances offering 1 m bath are not sufficient to maintain my life style if there is no salary to be received.

Does anybody have good experiences on either health or life isurances serving these purposes?Is there anything to recommend? I would really appreciate your thoughts on this.

Thank you,

Ketsare

LMG Mega Series (which Thaivisa offers) and BUPA guarantee to renew health coverage for life. Of course, they will raise your premium if you have exceptionally high claims - all health insurers will do that.

You won't be able to find a Thai company offering the type of Income Protection (disability) insurance you are looking for. But, it is available in Thailand as international (non-Thai baht) insurance.

Thought I'd put in a belated jaw-dropper here.

Wanted a health and life ins policy from AIA in Chiang Mai. Did the medical and passed with flying colors (I was 49 yo at the time). Waited, waited, and was finally told that because I travel abroad too often, they can't insure me!!! Go figure...

I really, really don't like health insurance purchased with life insurance. Life insurance companies tend to be too restrictive and their health riders only provide basic hospital coverage that is generally much lower than is available through regular health insurance companies.

I have a hard time understanding why AIA (that I currently use) will only give 3rd class insurance just because my car, Honda, is a bit older....(more than 10 years). What is the logic behind that? And can Thaivisa-insurance help with getting something closer to a typical 1st class insurance? (could be with deductable or whatever). Cheers!

That's because good quality replacement parts are much more difficult to obtain. You may be able to get Class 2 coverage, though. (fire & theft only - without coverage for damage to the body).

If your car is less than 15 years old, you can now also get a form of 3rd Class coverage that gives you the options of Collision coverage, or Fire & Theft coverage, or a combination of Collision and Fire & Theft coverage.

There are a couple of companies that will probably sell you 1st Class coverage, but the coverage I just mentioned above is much cheaper and much more practical for an older car.

I am trying to understand what my family's health insurance options are going to be when we move to Thailand permanently.

I originally thought that I would purchase a family health policy-plan-scheme for all of us.

My wife is telling me that she thinks that she can just pay her, what she calls "social security", and she will have her medical insurance again like she did before we got married.

We discussed where she would be able to use it and she says that she used it previously at a nice hospital, not government, in Ubon.

It is actually the hospital that I was planning on using for all of us when I purchased the Insurance policy.

She also thinks that for a "little bit" more it will cover the kids. She was adamant that this was not the "30 baht" plan but instead "social security" like she paid when she had a job.... working at her sisters shop.... before we got married.

If this is true then I would only need to purchase a policy for myself.

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone and can you explain it to me.

Thanks

I have checked into this many times. but I am still only 95% certain about my answers below:

1. Your wife will have to work for an employer participating in the SSO program to be covered under it.

2. It is possible that the hospital that you want to use is a participant in the scheme. Many private hospitals are. But many private hospital are also dropping out of the scheme because they don't feel that they are getting paid enough to participate.

3. I have never heard of children or other family members being covered under the scheme. The employer pays half the premium (based on the employees salary) and the employee pays the other half.

I sold life insurance in the States and I agree that I considered endowments to be a very poor way for saving money. I sold life insurance for family, business and estate protection.

In Thailand, though, the situation might be different, if I can believe what I read. (I really haven't thought it out) Bank accounts here pay low interest and the interest you earn is taxable as income. The supposed benefit of an endowment is that neither the cash build up nor the proceeds are taxed.

Appreciate anyone who has the information on this area can advise me. Can a foreigner get a life or trerm insurance policy? If that can be done, must the beneficiary be a Thai? And must there be an insurable interest?

Thank you in advance

The foreigner must have a Work Permit. The bene doesn't have to be Thai. Yes, there must be an insurable interest (family).

When I shopped for and eventually took out a Thai health insurance policy earlier this year through a broker in BKK, they told me to expect a two-year exclusion period for any pre-existing conditions.

That is, even though I might have had treatment for something in the more distant past, the exclusions I'd expect to be included in my Thai policy would be related to things I'd actually had treatment of any kind for in the prior two years.

I'd had sinus surgery during that two year prior period. So all sinus things were excluded. In talking with my broker about this, she advised that if I went two years more under the Thai policy with no doctor visits or treatment relating to sinus that I probably could get that exclusion dropped in future renewals.

2 years seems to be pretty generous for an insurance company, considering that Thai Health considers 5 years and Axa Health seems to consider a customer's entire life.

What company was that?

Be careful about buying health insurance based on how you perceive they handle exclusions. Most health insurers are pretty much the same in that regard. No health insurer wants to cover treatment for already existing conditions.

Thai Health refused to renew someone's policy a while back when they discovered that he had had a heart operation about 7 years before he applied. They discovered this when he went in for treatment of an unrelated problem. They covered that problem, but then refused to renew his coverage because "he had lied" by not mentioning the heart operation.

Below the "5 year" question is the question that zapped him. It asked, "Do you have any personal health problem...? He wrote "no." The fact is, once you have a heart operation the heart is weaker and will always be considered a health problem for the rest of your life.

Keep in mind, there are no good guys when it comes to covering pre-existing conditions. But, all health insurers have to cover medical conditions that existed at the time of application if they haven't discovered and excluded them within the first 2 years that the policy has been in force.

Exclusions for pre-existing conditions can be removed eventually if a qualified physican certifies that the problem is cured. A cancer exclusion can be removed about 5 to 7 years after successful removal of the cancer with no reoccurrence .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB_hRQQWdyg

In referrence to the video above, do the Thais still percieve insurane companies as big nasty organizations? In north america, working for an insurance company is nothing to hide from your family.

The reason I'm asking is that I've been offered a job, but been warned that I might face flak from family and friends.....is this true?

That is a cute video. Cockroaches sell insurance in both Thailand and America. Negative attitudes towards insurance sales people, car sales people and even attornies are universal. It is up to you the kind of image you project. Know your product, listen to the buyer, don't be pushy and know when to shut up and walk away.

BUPA insurance payment delay.

I have had BUPA insurance for the last several years with no claims. My information is that if (when) hospitalized the first time, BUPA will not cover you on discharge from the hospital. (Assuming maybe a week of hospitalization). BUPA will initiate an investigation of possible pre-existing conditions which could negate coverage. This process involves requesting your medical records from your home country, which could take up to 6 months(!?). So you are required to pay the entire bill on discharge and then get your refund from BUPA.

Does this situation occur for subsequent hospitalizations, even though BUPA already has your home country records?

Is there a point in time when BUPA does not request records from your home country?

Maybe 7 or 10 years?

Can a person request BUPA obtain your records now, to avoid the payment delay?

BTW, I am not currently hospitalized nor have plans to be.

It is possible that home country records might be requested in the case of a very questionable high claim. But it's not common practice.

In anycase, after the policy has been in force more than 2 years they can't look for pre-existing conditions. If they didn't discover a pre-existing condition within that 2 year period, or before, they can't exclude it now.

As has already been pointed out, Personal Accident (PA) coverage found in health insurance plans has nothing to do with treatment. It is an add-on coverage that more appropriately should be named Accidental Death, Dismemberment and Diisability coverage. Having PA coverage in a health insurance policy confuses a lot of people; they quickly zero in on the PA exclusions and associate them with the treatment exclsions.

If this is so much 'much ado about nothing' why do so many people come to you with a basic misunderstanding about their prospective policy?

You would be amazed at how often I am told by someone that they are buying health insurance because they have a medical problem that they want the insurance company to pay for. Those are the honest ones. Many more try to hide the fact they need treatment.

So that was exactly my point in raising this topic: There are ways to work with the pre-existing rules, and there are reasons that you should not try to 'get around' them... that if you and your broker work with a prospective insurer there are ways to cover many conditions with a level playing field for both parties... and the first thing that ANY insurance company will do when you submit a large cliam, after happily accepting your premium payments for years, is to find some way that you have mis-represented your disclosure when you applied for the policy.

So that is why this FORUM is useful... so that the persons reading here (about a hundred so far today) might have a better understanding how how this all works... how many people, even those who have ALREADY purchased health insurance, have actually read this section of their policy?

As you say: Problems come from a lack real understanding of health insurance in Thailand and unreal expections of what the insurance will do for them... so you can maybe edify the Members here rather than dealing with them one by one... and they can be better informed when they contact you, another broker, or the prospective insurer directly themselves.

Good point, Jazzbo.

This is IN FACT the Paragraph dealing with Pre-existing Conditions from an actual Policy issued by a Thai-based Healthcare Insurer:

Pre-Exisitng Conditions -- The Company will not pay any benefits for pre-existing conditions during the first two years from the commencement date. A pre-exisitng condition means any disease, illness, or injury or symptoms and complications thereof for which the Covered Person was treated or knew about (or a prudent person SHOULD have been aware existed), within 5 years before the commencement date of the Policy.

After 2 years from the first Policy commencement date, the Company cannot refuse to pay any claims for pre-existing conditions unless such pre-exisitning conditions have been endorsed.

Exclusion for pre-existing conditions MAY be waived if the Covered Person has declared such conditions on the joining application form and the Company has agreed to cover them.

(My caps)

However, the catch-all for anyone trying to play fast and loose with the 2 year discovery period would have to look at the following which, in some version, is on (most likely) every insurance application in Thailand:

Important Notice: Pursuant to Section 865 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code, the Insured must disclose all information in this proposal form, fully and faithfully, otherwise, the policy issued hereafter may be void

.

Hi All,

Recently my baby has born and I was stunned with the vaccination prices! Back in Brazil, this is normally covered by the insurance. Apparently the one my current company uses isn't. Additionally, the monthly checkup is also not covered. They only cover medical conditions... Not preventive.

My wife spoke with some friends and, apparently, their insurance covers everything. She will try to get the name of the insurance with them...

Meanwhile I spoke with my company and the Thai lady asked me to get the name of insurance companies that covers everything. Perhaps they are going to change, if I can find something better...

Do you guys know any insurance company that covers:

1) Travels abroad

2) Vaccines

3) The monthly check-up of my newborn baby

Thanks in advance!

Fred.

All Thai based health insurance companies cover travel abroad (Some exceptions about U.S.A), up to the coverage limits of the policy.

No Thai based health insurer covers childs vacinations (I admit, though, that I entered this thread hoping Thaivisa knew of an exception).

No Thai based insurer covers monthly check ups for new borns.

Insurers don't hand out "freebees" without charging you for them. If you have coverage for those things in your (international) iinsurance, believe me, you are paying for them when you compare the cost of your coverage to good, adequate Thai based coverage. No, I don't mean BUPA Personal.

Hi guys

I hope you can help with my questions.

I am coming over to Thailand (Nong Khai) in December, for two months, I will be driving my girlfriends motorbike while I am there, My Question's are:

Do I need insurance, if yes,

Where would I get it (post office, police station ) ???

Thanks in anticipation,

Steve

Steve, if your girlfriend's motorbike is registered, she already has the Compulsory Coverage. Compulsory Coverage pays up to 50,000 baht per person for third party injury and about 100,000 baht per person for third party death or dismemberment. It doesn't cover injury to you. You can cover that by purchasing inbound travel insurance in Thailand.

If you want more 3rd party Voluntary Coverage, your girlfriend will have to buy it on the motorbike, not on you. That is purchased for a year at a time. Legally, you are supposed to have a motorcycle license also. But...(?). If you have a motorcycle license from your home country, that is ok.

you can be insured to the hilt ,but as said ,no thai license ,no payout ..........

I was assuming my driving licence and a International driving permit would suffice, am I wrong ???

Thanks

Steve

No, you are right. If your license is a motorcycle license.

I must admit I only have a CBT (Compulsory Basic Training) certificate for motorcycle and was hoping this would suffice am I wrong (batting 100% at the moment)

Steve

Steve, You have gone beyond me, now. I have absolutely no idea what a CBT does for you in your country. Does it take the place of a license or does qualify you for the license. If the latter, get the license.

Going back to your earlier question about where to go in Thailand: You can go to the Land Transportation office and try to apply for your own annual renewable license. But, I'm a bit hazy on the qualifications for that, since I am long term resident and keep renewing every 5 years.

Hi guys

I hope you can help with my questions.

I am coming over to Thailand (Nong Khai) in December, for two months, I will be driving my girlfriends motorbike while I am there, My Question's are:

Do I need insurance, if yes,

Where would I get it (post office, police station ) ???

Thanks in anticipation,

Steve

Steve, if your girlfriend's motorbike is registered, she already has the Compulsory Coverage. Compulsory Coverage pays up to 50,000 baht per person for third party injury and about 100,000 baht per person for third party death or dismemberment. It doesn't cover injury to you. You can cover that by purchasing inbound travel insurance in Thailand.

If you want more 3rd party Voluntary Coverage, your girlfriend will have to buy it on the motorbike, not on you. That is purchased for a year at a time. Legally, you are supposed to have a motorcycle license also. But...(?). If you have a motorcycle license from your home country, that is ok.

you can be insured to the hilt ,but as said ,no thai license ,no payout ..........

I was assuming my driving licence and a International driving permit would suffice, am I wrong ???

Thanks

Steve

No, you are right. If your license is a motorcycle license.

Hi guys

I hope you can help with my questions.

I am coming over to Thailand (Nong Khai) in December, for two months, I will be driving my girlfriends motorbike while I am there, My Question's are:

Do I need insurance, if yes,

Where would I get it (post office, police station ) ???

Thanks in anticipation,

Steve

Steve, if your girlfriend's motorbike is registered, she already has the Compulsory Coverage. Compulsory Coverage pays up to 50,000 baht per person for third party injury and about 100,000 baht per person for third party death or dismemberment. It doesn't cover injury to you. You can cover that by purchasing inbound travel insurance in Thailand.

If you want more 3rd party Voluntary Coverage, your girlfriend will have to buy it on the motorbike, not on you. That is purchased for a year at a time. Legally, you are supposed to have a motorcycle license also. But...(?). If you have a motorcycle license from your home country, that is ok.

18,000 baht for every day lm in hospital.

Something is wrong here. No hospital in Thailand charges that much for room, board and nursing care. Bangkok General Hospital, from my experience, seems to offer the highest priced rooms. Their low-end private room is about 9,000 baht per day for room, board, nursing care and service charge.

Bumrunggrad recently raised their room rates. They now charge 5,660 baht for private room, board, nursing care and service charge. Their semi-private room is 3,065 baht and a four bed is 2,365 baht per day.

When checking hospital room rates, by the way, always make sure that the price you are being quoted includes the cost of Room, Food (board), Nursing Care and Service Charge; because when you get the final bill those charges will be on it.

The only possible justification for charging 18,000 baht per day is that she will have to stay in an Intensive Care Unit and will require constant nursing care and supervision.

Or...they are planning to put her in the hospital "Presidential Suite."

Can assure you l've checked the price many times and the price is 18,000 baht, the last time my daughter was in they charged 18,000 a day which l believe included basic nursing care, medication etc, was all charged on top.

The operation is for myself not my daughter but the price is still the same, and l've just checked with my local private hosipital in the UK and they will remove my vein for £1500 all in, intital consulation, operation , aftercare and an overnight stay in the hosiptal, thats cheaper than Thailand, amazing.

Maybe these huge price rises are confined to the Bangkok/Pattaya, but looking through the previous posts in does'nt seem the case.

Hi Mark,

The idea of any hospital in Thailand charging 18,000 baht per day for a private hospital room really shocked me. So I checked with Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. They quoted 7,650 baht per day to me for Private Room, Board, Nursing Care and Service Charge. This is the cost that I had expected. It falls in line with the other "5 Star" international quality hospitals here in Thailand.

This is the portion of the hospital charges that are covered under Room and Board in insurance policies. This is the cost that people need to know if they are using insurance to pay for the room.

I don't doubt that 18,000 baht per day comes into play somewhere in your stay. And, I don't doubt that BPH treatment charges are dramatically rising. But, the room cost is 7,650 baht per day, which is in line with similar type hospitals.

Actually, the 18,000 baht per day price they quoted you may have been some sort of "package price" for treatment of her medical condition, including Room and Board, General Hospital Expenses and Doctor Visits.

18,000 baht for every day lm in hospital.

Something is wrong here. No hospital in Thailand charges that much for room, board and nursing care. Bangkok General Hospital, from my experience, seems to offer the highest priced rooms. Their low-end private room is about 9,000 baht per day for room, board, nursing care and service charge.

Bumrunggrad recently raised their room rates. They now charge 5,660 baht for private room, board, nursing care and service charge. Their semi-private room is 3,065 baht and a four bed is 2,365 baht per day.

When checking hospital room rates, by the way, always make sure that the price you are being quoted includes the cost of Room, Food (board), Nursing Care and Service Charge; because when you get the final bill those charges will be on it.

The only possible justification for charging 18,000 baht per day is that she will have to stay in an Intensive Care Unit and will require constant nursing care and supervision.

Or...they are planning to put her in the hospital "Presidential Suite."

Can assure you l've checked the price many times and the price is 18,000 baht, the last time my daughter was in they charged 18,000 a day which l believe included basic nursing care, medication etc, was all charged on top.

The operation is for myself not my daughter but the price is still the same, and l've just checked with my local private hosipital in the UK and they will remove my vein for £1500 all in, intital consulation, operation , aftercare and an overnight stay in the hosiptal, thats cheaper than Thailand, amazing.

Maybe these huge price rises are confined to the Bangkok/Pattaya, but looking through the previous posts in does'nt seem the case.

Hi Mark,

The idea of any hospital in Thailand charging 18,000 baht per day for a private hospital room really shocked me. So I checked with Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. They quoted 7,650 baht per day to me for Private Room, Board, Nursing Care and Service Charge. This is the cost that I had expected. It falls in line with the other "5 Star" international quality hospitals here in Thailand.

This is the portion of the hospital charges that are covered under Room and Board in insurance policies. This is the cost that people need to know if they are using insurance to pay for the room.

I don't doubt that 18,000 baht per day comes into play somewhere in your stay. And, I don't doubt that BPH treatment charges are dramatically rising. But, the room cost is 7,650 baht per day, which is in line with similar type hospitals.

I have my own company and deduct an amount every month for the national social fund so I have medical benefits from a designated hospital. I also pay for private medical insurance with BUPA

Can I opt out of the national scheme without jeopardising visa & work permit applications in future? Certainly, if I do get ill I'll use the BUPA, so it seems a bit daft to be paying twice.

No, you can't get out of paying for the government coverage. The only way you can get out of it is to quit your job and go to work somewhere else. The employer has to deduct the premium from your pay. If you don't want the coverage, just consider the cost as a small reduction in pay. Then, get, or continue, the coverage you want.

I recieved a nasty suprise recently following Cardiac Stent insertion recently in Penang I got an unexpected bill from the Insurance company ING who have taken the view that they will not pay for the actual Stents as they are catergorised under the same category as hopitsl dressings and equippment and that category has a low claim limit ... The bed costs no problems I used nothing like the limit I stayed overnight only and went home , the surgeons fees less than half the limit all other fees okay except , the claim for excess cost on the bits and bobs dressings and fittings side is above 19000 ringits . They pay about 9000ringit I pay 19000 plus

The attitude of both my company and the insurance company is pay up tough shit read the small print ...if I had elected to have open heart bypass very few bits and bobs no stents so it would all be covered, and twice the price ......

The attitude is, this is normal sir but I think not ,my belief is that on checking the normallity is that once the Medical cover says it is covered (which they did ) it is covered and if it exceeds their expectations on cost they will fight with the hospital and not the patient . I would like to hear of similar cases problems or indeed sucess stories so I can confirm my own findings and be able to quote cases showing what a normal insurance company does with this sort of claim It may help me fight them . ONCE AGAIN IT WAS ING INSURANCE >>>TAKE CARE

It is a little late now, but the fact is, you should gone with the heart by-pass. Although more costly, it would have been covered.

The problem isn't ING. Most insurance companies in Thailand don't cover the implantation of artificial devices, such as pacemakers. If there is any villian in this situation, it has to be the hospital. Since this is not an unsual insurance exclsion, they should have known that this might not be covered and, at least, checked with the insurance company.