TallGuyJohninBKK

Sheryl, so, you're talking about scheduling those kind of preventive and diagnostic procedures covered by Medicare specifically when you're traveling back to the U.S. periodically for whatever reasons? And here, silly me, as a soon to be eligible for Medicare person, I've always thought of my trips back to the U.S. as vacation and having fun times -- not going for colonoscopies!!! 🙂 I guess I'm going to have to reconsider that outlook, once I get my Medicare card!!!

But from what I've read (I think), you can't actually sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan until AFTER you're already enrolled in basic Medicare? I didn't get the impression, a newbe could do A, B and Advantage all in one sign-up at the same time.

I have Pacific Cross Maxima, and this year they did an 8% general rate increase (apart from age bands) at my recent annual renewal.

I have an existing, decent Thai private med insurance policy that I've paid for and kept ever since I moved to Thailand, but one that is getting increasingly more expensive as I get into my mid 60s and beyond... Never really had to use it for anything big yet, fingers crossed. But now I'm looking at probably keeping the Thai policy for the time I'm continuing to live in Thailand, but also getting and paying for Medicare (some combination of A, B and beyond), just to cover in case I move back any time in the future or need to go back for some kind of treatment I want or can only get in the U.S. Then layer on top of that, the issues related to the Thai government's plans to start taxing worldwide income of anyone living here for more than half the year, and that at least creates some planning scenarios where I might decide to be out of Thailand for some periods of time... Who knows how all that's going to turn out.

One thing I'm confused about...if anyone knows the answer.... --for the initial open enrollment period just before and after a person turns 65, and you sign up for Medicare Parts A and B then... Do you also HAVE TO sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan during that same open enrollment period? Or, you can add on a Medicare Advantage sometime time later without any penalties? Anytime, or only during the annual open enrollment period at the start of the calendar year? TIA!

@ricklev and I are in the same situation, with the same upcoming important choices to make... Thus your post above re Medicare Advantage and the follow-up video links are VERY helpful and appreciated! 🙂 @Jingthing

Congrats for that! Charles Schwab has similar benefits for their wealthier account holders. But re Chase, as I was saying above, NOT for their regular run-of-the mill consumer checking accounts.

@GinBoy2 Hey, can you clarify a couple things re your comment above? --When you say "emergency" coverage, I'm assuming that means for things like accidents and such? Not that you go to the doctor for tests and find out you have cancer, right? --Is the $500,000 a lifetime policy cap for that coverage, and did you really mean $500K? That seems very high. I've seen other mentions of Medicare Advantage overseas coverage that talked about a $50,000 maximum overseas benefit.

Of course, the recent episode with Sean Hannity wasn't the only time lately that the elderly, addled Trump has totally lost the plot. For example:

...

And now the Republicans, and unfortunately the U.S., are left with the following as the far worst of two options. A guy who can't even keep straight what Democrat he's running against, as documented in the YT video I posted above on his sorry performance on the Sean Hannity interview. Biden's exit makes Trump the oldest nominee in U.S. history President Biden's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination could defuse the age question dogging the Democrats: Harris will be 60 on Inauguration Day — 22 years younger than Biden. ... Trump, at 78, becomes the oldest nominee in U.S. history if Harris or someone else younger than Trump succeeds Biden atop the Democratic ticket. https://www.axios.com/2024/07/21/kamala-harris-age-presidential-nominee I can't imagine the ranting and raving Trump in the White House TODAY -- much less four+ years into the future when he'd be 82 or so. But still Putin's poodle at any age.

Perhaps it's because of the parasitic worm that ate part of RFK Jr.'s brain.... or his other "numerous" health problems, as recounted below. Strangely enough, I didn't find that news even slightly surprising, given how far out in the looney space RFK Jr. is. RFK Jr. claims a doctor told him a worm ate part of his brain, reports New York Times 05/08/2024 "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed numerous health problems, including that a parasite possibly ate part of his brain, during a deposition made during a contentious divorce from his second wife about a decade ago, according to the New York Times. The Times reported that Kennedy told attorneys in 2012 that a surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital reviewed his brain scans after suffering from memory loss and fogginess. The surgeon, he said, believed the issue “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.” POLITICO has not independently reviewed the deposition. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/08/rfk-jr-brain-worm-00156794 He's a fit, alright.....

It's the Trumpers' continuing, unfulfilled dream that they'd still get to face Biden in November, and not have to face the actual Democrat nominee, Kamala Harris. Heck, doty old Trump just the other day still mentioned about candidate Biden in November, then he stuttered a pause, and then finally corrected himself to say "Harris." But then, at his advanced age, it's not surprising he'd be having those kinds of mental / cognitive problems -- as he's often reminded us about elderly politicians in recent years. Analysis: Trump’s fury over Harris’ switch with Biden is increasingly driving his campaign August 16, 2024 (CNN) — Deep into his ranting news conference on Thursday, former President Donald Trump told a truth that explained everything : “I’m very angry at her.” He was referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, whose late entry into the general election race has left him bitter, disoriented, and mourning the loss of the old campaign — the one he was winning against President Joe Biden. Trump’s discombobulation was laid bare in a self-pitying and raging stream of consciousness delivered at his New Jersey golf club that raised serious questions about the future trajectory of his quest to return to power. https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/16/politics/trump-fury-harris-switch-campaign-analysis/index.html With Trump just lately, during the Sean Hannity interview, saying.... "anybody in New Hampshire that votes for Biden....."

Yep, for those and other reasons, I prefer to keep all my U.S. banking and FI profiles with my U.S. address, and never do anything U.S. official with my TH address. Because there are too many past stories of people's U.S. FIs closing or freezing people's accounts after determining they were no longer "U.S. residents." Every FI handles the residency issue based on their own internal practices.. So there's no one size fits all standard for that... What you can get away with at one FI you'll end up getting grief from a different FI... And the problem is, you'll never know in advance UNTIL the bad news potentially arrives some day. It's a risk.

Understand that those are the standard MC and VISA network exchange rates.... BUT, your U.S. bank can and often does charge foreign currency transaction fees on ATM withdrawals, purchases, cash advances/counter withdrawals and fund transfers in/to foreign countries such as Thailand. Generally in the 3-4% range for many of the larger U.S. banks. Because the U.S. banks basically are oriented toward a domestic U.S. audience and not an expat audience, they typically don't do a very good job of disclosing whether they charge FCFs and if so at what rates. You often have to delve into their often buried online fee schedules to find that kind of detail. So in the case of a U.S. debit card withdrawal here in Thailand, it will be processed at the then current VISA or MC foreign exchange rate, MINUS any FCFs charged by the U.S. FI that issued your debit card. Sometimes those fees are listed separately in online banking, and in other cases, they're simply rolled into the broader transaction, depending on the FI.

And what exact kind of transaction are you using to get the SS funds from your U.S. account to BKKB? And, do you mean first to BKKB NY, or direct to BKKB Thailand? Are you doing a Wise transfer out to your U.S. account onward to BBKB Thailand?

Last time I checked, for their regular consumer checking accounts, Chase U.S. wasn't refunding foreign bank ATM fees and WERE charging foreign currency fees. But they did used to offer those kinds of perks for certain of their very high balance accounts or ones with other relationship elements. Has something changed in that regard with Chase more recently?

Yes, that was my point above re IAT format ACHs... seemingly a rare or non-existent breed at the U.S. consumer banking level. I've got numerous U.S. consumer bank accounts, do domestic ACH transfers all the time. But I've NEVER once seen any option in any of my online banking setups to originate an IAT ACH.

Yes, what you recount above was what happened, and what BKK Bank NY switched to, several years back when they discontinuing handling what had been normal US domestic ACH transfers that almost any U.S. bank account holder could arrange from their accounts. The CATCH, at the time, was no one here on ThaiVisa / AseanNow at THAT time could find any consumer U.S. banks that offered IAT capability to their consumer account holders. The IAT deal was something they used at the time more for commercial transactions, which perhaps explains by Social Security might be able to send IAT ACHs to BKKB New York, but as far as I know, you and I likely can NOT ourselves. Unless something has changed with that along the way. It's been several years since I last ventured into that topic.

I'm not talking about a Social Security deposits below but just general funds: As best as I recall, the BKK Bank New York branch CEASED accepting U.S. domestic ACH transfers for onward routing to your BKKB Thailand account several years back. Last time I checked, however, what you could still do thru BKKB NY is send them a U.S. domestic wire transfer (can often can be found for little or no cost) to their ABA routing # and your Thai BKKB account number, and then THAT they will still forward onward to your BKKB Thai account. But I've never done a SS deposit directly to BKKB New York, so I can't speak to how / whether that still works??? Or if there's been some later change on NY's policy re ACH transfers.

It's interesting. I follow, among others, the Washington Post's medical columnist Dr. Leana Wen... who also does regular Q and A columns with readers' questions. And I've seen it crop up frequently where people ask her about difficulties in getting Paxlovid if needed when traveling abroad... And one of the things I've seen her advise to her U.S. audience is for people planning to travel who are concerned can contact their doctor and see about getting an advance prescription, in case it's later needed while they're away on travels. Apparently some doctors will do that, others won't. Though I think that was more back when the U.S. govt was paying for Paxlovid itself. The under-prescribing of Paxlovid may be our biggest covid policy failure January 16, 2024 "The United States suffers from a litany of policy failures in the response to covid-19. Low vaccine uptake in vulnerable populations such as nursing homes remains a major problem, as does the lack of investment in local and state public health infrastructure. But one deficiency stands out above the rest: The antiviral medication Paxlovid is highly effective at preventing severe illness and death, yet the usage rate is staggeringly low. Only about 15 percent of high-risk individuals who contract the coronavirus are prescribed the drug. ... Finally, the FDA should provide explicit instructions to allow doctors to issue “just in case” prescriptions. High-risk patients who are traveling and are concerned about accessing treatment should be able to take antivirals with them so that they can initiate treatment as soon as they test positive. It’s remarkable that science has delivered exceptional breakthroughs that have dramatically reduced severe illness and death from the coronavirus. The great tragedy is our continuing failure to take advantage of these advances." https://archive.ph/UF3IT https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/16/paxlovid-covid-under-prescribed/ Leana S. Wen, a Washington Post contributing columnist who writes the newsletter The Checkup with Dr. Wen, is an emergency physician, clinical associate professor at George Washington University and author of “Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health.” Previously, she served as Baltimore’s health commissioner.

Trump’s federal election prosecution isn’t going to trial anytime soon. But it could still produce damaging revelations before Nov. 5 A new schedule from Judge Tanya Chutkan leaves the door open for an October surprise. 09/05/2024 Special counsel Jack Smith and Donald Trump will be trading high-stakes legal filings — some potentially jammed with new and explosive evidence related to Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election — in the weeks leading up to Election Day. A federal judge has given the special counsel’s team until Sept. 26 to detail what his team says will be a “comprehensive” slate of evidence detailing Trump’s alleged conspiracies to subvert the 2020 election. ... The prospect of damaging new information related to Trump’s effort to subvert the previous presidential election emerging in the closing days of the 2024 race adds a new, unpredictable element to the campaign’s final stretch — the definition of an October surprise. But it’s not yet clear how much of the filings the public will see: Chutkan could order redactions to some of the sensitive information that Smith or Trump seek to include in their briefs. But any revelations are likely to draw significant attention just as millions of voters are casting early ballots. (more) https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/05/trump-federal-election-case-chutkan-schedule-00177619

Judge Tanya S. Chutkan told the former president's lawyers that she is "not concerned with the electoral schedule" September 6, 2024 It’s not fair, legal counsel for Donald Trump told a federal judge on Thursday. The former president’s election interference case — which could have gone to trial this spring had it not been for litigation over the Republican candidate’s claim he was completely immune from prosecution — is starting back up again just as early voting is about to begin. While ballots are being cast, prosecutors could air new, potentially damning evidence about the defendant's efforts to remain in power. So what, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan responded. Her only concern, she said, is the crimes that special counsel Jack Smith, armed with a fresh grand jury indictment, has accused the 78-year-old defendant of committing: defrauding the United States and seeking to throw out the votes of millions of Americans after decisively losing to President Joe Biden in 2020. ... Chutkan issued an order following Thursday’s hearing that sets the stage for potentially damning evidence to be publicly shared just as the election heats up. That order sets Sept. 26 as the deadline for prosecutors to file an “opening brief” on Trump’s immunity claims, which Politico reported could be “jammed with new and explosive evidence related to Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election” (prosecutors said they would include “substantial exhibits” in their filing). A defense response is due by Oct. 17 and prosecutors’ response to that is due Oct. 29. (more) https://www.salon.com/2024/09/06/sets-stage-for-mini-mini-trial-in-january-6-case-right-before-the-november/

I guess some of us aren't big fans of nutjob conspiracy theory and misinformation peddlers running for high office... Kinda the same reason most of us abhor Trump!

You're entitled to your opinion, just as he's entitled to his... But as he (unlike you) is a recognized expert on correctly forecasting past U.S. presidential election outcomes, I know whom I'm going to listen to. From the above News Nation report: "CHICAGO (NewsNation) — A historian who’s correctly predicted nearly every presidential race since 1984 says that if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drops out of the 2024 election, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will benefit."