friend stuck in hospital with huge bill he can't pay,what now?

[Fish Head Soup]

31 minutes ago, elviajero said:

They are available for up to 10 years, it’s only each visit that’s limited to 6 months.

Hence why I said it was levied on applicants with permission to stay for longer than 6 months.

32 minutes ago, elviajero said:

That is a NHS surcharge, not insurance.

 

It’s a tax. A tax being levied on families like mine because the NHS/UK Governments can’t control the ‘medical tourists’, and increased pressure on the service due to EU citizens.

Semantics, the IHS is not a tax, it's a lump sum collectable revenue which is collected by the government to offset the risk of the applicant accessing health care, ergo it's a form of insurance.

 

You just didn't realize of it's existence hence your original post.

[Jip99]

18 minutes ago, Fish Head Soup said:

 

Semantics, the IHS is not a tax, it's a lump sum collectable revenue which is collected by the government to offset the risk of the applicant accessing health care, ergo it's a form of insurance.

 

 

 

 

You make it sound an awful lot like tax......

[Fish Head Soup]

1 minute ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

You make it sound an awful lot like tax......

Like I said semantics. At the end of the day it is this type of system that the Thai government are interested in replicating, at least something on the lines there of.

[Jip99]

33 minutes ago, Fish Head Soup said:

Like I said semantics. At the end of the day it is this type of system that the Thai government are interested in replicating, at least something on the lines there of.

 

 

IMO, not a cat in hell’s chance.

[Fish Head Soup]

7 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

IMO, not a cat in hell’s chance.

Why? It's a revenue stream just waiting to be opened up. If there are 1 million people on visas or permission to stay then at B30,000 per year you have an untapped income stream of B30 billion per year just waiting to be taken advantage of.

[LolaS]

7 hours ago, elviajero said:

The “government” don’t care about insurance and aren’t forcing anyone to get it. I doubt the authorities are bothered about a few unpaid hospital bills.

 

Foreigners having insurance would only benefit Thailand if it were provided by Thai insurers.

 

Compulsory insurance is not “normal in the west”.

I disagree for obtaining visa to UK you need to buy travel insurance

[ericthai]

4 hours ago, Fish Head Soup said:

And here was me thinking it was just the Thai officials xenophobia, thanks for clearing that up.

sure it's xenophobia, that's why they look for any excuse to harass expats.

[ericthai]

12 hours ago, LolaS said:

Goverment should do that!!! everyone should get insurence, this is normal in the west

the US does not require any insurance to enter.   Thailand has mentioned a few times over the years, seems like someone is on gofundme every week asking for help from accidents in Thailand and not have money.

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, Fish Head Soup said:

2 hours ago, elviajero said:

That is a NHS surcharge, not insurance.

 

It’s a tax. A tax being levied on families like mine because the NHS/UK Governments can’t control the ‘medical tourists’, and increased pressure on the service due to EU citizens.

Semantics, the IHS is not a tax, it's a lump sum collectable revenue which is collected by the government to offset the risk of the applicant accessing health care, ergo it's a form of insurance.

You're the one arguing semantics. All I have said is that you are not required (to buy) insurance.

 

I don't care what they call it, the IHS is not insurance, it is a tax. It's different. It is not for the protection of the visitor (insurance). It wasn't introduced to make sure everyone had health insurance, but to bolster the government coffers because the health service needs money. You could consider it insurance for the government, but it's certainly not for the visitor.

 

"revenue which is collected by the government" that goes in a central pot to pay for a public service. TAX.

 

Short term visitors don't pay this tax, but can still access the health service. The government just picked on an easy target group that have no choice but to pay the tax. A short term visitor that hasn't paid this tax would get the same treatment as someone that has. 

 

1 hour ago, Fish Head Soup said:

You just didn't realize of it's existence hence your original post.

I am fully aware of it's existence because my wife paid it last year.

 

I was originally replying to someone claiming that the Thai government should force people to buy insurance, which is normal in the west. Visitors to the UK do not have to buy insurance, therefore it is not "normal". Fact.

[poanoi]

this could possibly be a way for an easy visa:

"sorry IO but hospital dont allow me to leave,

guess you'll just have to slug it out with them"

[poanoi]

this could possibly be a way for an easy visa:

"sorry IO but hospital dont allow me to leave,

if you pay hospital bill you can deport me after"

[elviajero]

54 minutes ago, LolaS said:

I disagree for obtaining visa to UK you need to buy travel insurance

Here is a link to the UK government website. Please point to the page that says a visitor needs to buy travel insurance.

https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa

 

I am sure some agents that arrange visas make their clients buy travel insurance, but it is not required.

[Fish Head Soup]

1 hour ago, elviajero said:

I don't care what they call it, the IHS is not insurance, it is a tax. It's different. It is not for the protection of the visitor (insurance). It wasn't introduced to make sure everyone had health insurance, but to bolster the government coffers because the health service needs money. You could consider it insurance for the government, but it's certainly not for the visitor.

 

"revenue which is collected by the government" that goes in a central pot to pay for a public service. TAX.

 

Short term visitors don't pay this tax, but can still access the health service. The government just picked on an easy target group that have no choice but to pay the tax. A short term visitor that hasn't paid this tax would get the same treatment as someone that has. 

It's not a tax at all, it's an insurance policy on behalf of the government to offset the cost of treatment should it be needed.

 

1 hour ago, elviajero said:

I am fully aware of it's existence because my wife paid it last year.

 

And she's probably still a net burden on the UK tax payer in spite of you complaining about the charge.

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, Fish Head Soup said:

And she's probably still a net burden on the UK tax payer in spite of you complaining about the charge.

She is a shareholder in a UK limited company that probably wouldn't exist without her and pays a lot of tax. Since receiving her UK residence permit she is an employee of that company and is personally paying a lot of tax. She is far less of a burden on the other UK tax payers than many UK citizens that pay little or no tax. All UK tax payers should be exempt from this additional tax.

 

1 hour ago, Fish Head Soup said:

It's not a tax at all, it's an insurance policy on behalf of the government to offset the cost of treatment should it be needed.

The main purpose of introducing this "charge" (TAX) was to raise additional revenue (TAX) for the NHS that is paid for from TAXES.

[Jip99]

9 hours ago, Fish Head Soup said:

Why? It's a revenue stream just waiting to be opened up. If there are 1 million people on visas or permission to stay then at B30,000 per year you have an untapped income stream of B30 billion per year just waiting to be taken advantage of.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't dispute the economic logic of it.

 

The reason I think it won't happen is because of the Thai's inability to organise a piss up in a brewery - especially where they would be incapable of devising a system that retained corrupt elements that allowed all interested parties to feed from the trough.

 

Pay cash at immigration ?

[Letseng]

18 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't dispute the economic logic of it.

 

The reason I think it won't happen is because of the Thai's inability to organise a piss up in a brewery - especially where they would be incapable of devising a system that retained corrupt elements that allowed all interested parties to feed from the trough.

 

Pay cash at immigration ?

Organizing such a scheme is one issue. The other one is the longterm stayers who cannot get insurance due to pre-conditions, age, why would Thai insurers want the risk? They would also be a financial burden on the govt. hospitals. 30.000 Thb doesn't cover much.

[scubascuba3]

Why? It's a revenue stream just waiting to be opened up. If there are 1 million people on visas or permission to stay then at B30,000 per year you have an untapped income stream of B30 billion per year just waiting to be taken advantage of.

I doubt its as simple as that. A fair chunk of people will be deterred from Thailand as they could easily go elsewhere. Another load will also leave. Plus a load more will just overstay and not bother with a visa and insurance. Its a risk to impose it. The 10 year retirement visa option was a big flop so they haven't got a good record

[Letseng]

39 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

12 hours ago, Fish Head Soup said:

Why? It's a revenue stream just waiting to be opened up. If there are 1 million people on visas or permission to stay then at B30,000 per year you have an untapped income stream of B30 billion per year just waiting to be taken advantage of.

I doubt its as simple as that. A fair chunk of people will be deterred from Thailand as they could easily go elsewhere. Another load will also leave. Plus a load more will just overstay and not bother with a visa and insurance. Its a risk to impose it. The 10 year retirement visa option was a big flop so they haven't got a good record

They will catch up on overstayers eventually.

[stigar]

17 hours ago, paahlman said:

Exellent.. so no more visa runs then....

rigth..some guys from my country  have the same problem..stucked over a year..i guess will be charged for overstay also

[LolaS]

18 hours ago, elviajero said:

Here is a link to the UK government website. Please point to the page that says a visitor needs to buy travel insurance.

https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa

 

I am sure some agents that arrange visas make their clients buy travel insurance, but it is not required.

• Passport (6 months validity from the date of travel with at least one blank page)
• Proof of sufficient funds (bank statements, pay slips, etc)
• Proof of earnings (employment letter, business earning statements, etc)
• Proof of legal residence (only needed if you are applying for UK tourist visa outside of your country of citizenship. Example: Indian citizen living in the US must provide with a copy of their US visa or green card)
• Flight tickets and hotel bookings

sufficent funds are more than 500 000 THB to show for UK visa, so please stop gasslighing as

[jackdd]

5 minutes ago, LolaS said:

• Passport (6 months validity from the date of travel with at least one blank page)
• Proof of sufficient funds (bank statements, pay slips, etc)
• Proof of earnings (employment letter, business earning statements, etc)
• Proof of legal residence (only needed if you are applying for UK tourist visa outside of your country of citizenship. Example: Indian citizen living in the US must provide with a copy of their US visa or green card)
• Flight tickets and hotel bookings

sufficent funds are more than 500 000 THB to show for UK visa, so please stop gasslighing as

You said travel insurance is required, i don't see it as well

And 500k THB won't get you much in a UK hospital if you have a serious accident

[elviajero]

9 minutes ago, LolaS said:

• Passport (6 months validity from the date of travel with at least one blank page)
• Proof of sufficient funds (bank statements, pay slips, etc)
• Proof of earnings (employment letter, business earning statements, etc)
• Proof of legal residence (only needed if you are applying for UK tourist visa outside of your country of citizenship. Example: Indian citizen living in the US must provide with a copy of their US visa or green card)
• Flight tickets and hotel bookings

sufficent funds are more than 500 000 THB to show for UK visa, so please stop gasslighing as

You said visitors to the UK need insurance, which is wrong.

 

I gave you the link to the UK government website that proves you are wrong.

 

What are you quoting, and where does it say anything about INSURANCE?

 

You seem to be proving yourself wrong!

[Nong Khai Man]

On 24/03/2018 at 11:03 AM, bkk6060 said:

Great, just give the Thai people another reason to dislike farang....

Ummmm !! Quite a Lot of them do, Anyway....

[Sheryl]

Please stay on topic. The topic is a request for advise on what to do re a hospital bill.

[jenny2017]

On 3/24/2018 at 8:51 PM, Sheryl said:

Actually from what I have seen,  very, very few people self-insure. Instead what we have are uninsured people who think that is called "self insured". It is not.

 

Self-insured = you have 1-5 million baht (3-5 if you want the option of using private hospitals) set aside for medical care, readily accessible, and you have some means of replenishing it as it is used.

 

By and large the people who find health insurance too expensive are retrirees with no new income coming in and no way of doing the above.

 

Health insurance is not only for the purpose of ensuring access to health care; it is also to help protect financial assets.

 

 

Wise words, thanks, Sheryl. 

[Sir Dude]

Anyone who travels abroad without insurance is a numpty...especially to a country like Thailand. This "Go Fund Me" BS is so lame and snowflakey (if there is such a word). Insurance for 2-4 weeks costs like 20-40 pounds (US $50). If you are too stingy to buy it then som nam na...morons

[Jip99]

3 hours ago, LolaS said:

• Passport (6 months validity from the date of travel with at least one blank page)
• Proof of sufficient funds (bank statements, pay slips, etc)
• Proof of earnings (employment letter, business earning statements, etc)
• Proof of legal residence (only needed if you are applying for UK tourist visa outside of your country of citizenship. Example: Indian citizen living in the US must provide with a copy of their US visa or green card)
• Flight tickets and hotel bookings

sufficent funds are more than 500 000 THB to show for UK visa, so please stop gasslighing as

 

 

Nonsense..... I have seen successful UK visa applications where GBP 2,000 was more than sufficient. Also incorrect re  flight bookings etc for a UK visa.

[cat handler]

No pity from me, I hope they prevent him leaving Thailand until the bill is paid in full, and 500,000 baht is cheap, that’s about AU$20,000, try going into hospital in Australia for that operation and it would cost you a lot more if you havnt got Private Cover or not covered by Medicare.

[cat handler]

2 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

Anyone who travels abroad without insurance is a numpty...especially to a country like Thailand. This "Go Fund Me" BS is so lame and snowflakey (if there is such a word). Insurance for 2-4 weeks costs like 20-40 pounds (US $50). If you are too stingy to buy it then som nam na...morons

 

Why especially to a country like Thailand, is medical care free in the US for anyone including non-citizens?

 

apart from that I fully  agree, suck it up princess, I might add if you purchase your ticket with a Platinum Visa card Travel Insurance is free.

[anon537687643]

“Money making medical services “ hospitals in Thailand! I mean Bumrungrad is a 5 star hotel


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