family health insurance

[tingtongjay]

Hi all, finally after 10 years of hard work in UK we are in a good position to live in Thai, just wondered what the best way forward is for health insurance, its part of the deal with my wife that we get health insurance if we want to live in Thailand as we have 2 small children, im English and wife and kids thai/english. Ive had a few quotes around 4000 baht per month? is this about right?

[Swiss1960]

4'000 for a family of 4 sounds very very low, but all depends on the coverage (in- and/or outpatient, amount covered, self-payments etc etc).

Sent from my CPH1821 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[tingtongjay]

ok thanks swiss 1960...........il have to read the small print !.......i did see another route, travel insurance that covers me and family for 365 days with insure and go for £885 which works out 3171 baht per month?........again will have to read small print........

[4MyEgo]

I have a separate health insurance for myself, and the price all depends on age, I am 58 next month, and I pay around 67,000 baht for emergency or elective surgery only, i.e. I pay for outpatient, e.g. anything under 24 hours, is not classed as an emergency, now the insurer covers me for Thailand and 4 neighboring Asian countries, plus up to 90 days emergency cover worldwide, with the total cover being up to 1.2 mil USA.

 

Outpatient is cheap enough here, it can be 350 baht in a public hospital or 5,600 baht in a private hospital for the same check-ups, the private hospitals provide better checks, and have better drugs from my experience, and personally, I won't haggle on my health, you can take out outpatient as an option, but do expect your policy price to rise.

 

Had discussed with the wife about her and the 2 kids who have dual passports, and she said they are covered under the Thai system, so no need to get them covered under the private system, although there is one Thai insurer that will cover them if they have dual passports, i.e. they will not cover Thai's, and their rates are very good for the level of cover, so they would have to provide them with their other passports.

 

If you interested in any health insurance, PM me and I will forward you a spread sheet with a variety of health insurers, the thing to look out for is, why pay more for world cover if your not going to use it, hence the reason I opted for the Thailand cover and 4 neighboring countries, which is about 30,000 baht cheaper per year doing it this way, and like I said, you also get up to 90 emergency cover worldwide.

[Maradona 10]

5 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have a separate health insurance for myself, and the price all depends on age, I am 58 next month, and I pay around 67,000 baht for emergency or elective surgery only, i.e. I pay for outpatient, e.g. anything under 24 hours, is not classed as an emergency, now the insurer covers me for Thailand and 4 neighboring Asian countries, plus up to 90 days emergency cover worldwide, with the total cover being up to 1.2 mil USA.

 

Outpatient is cheap enough here, it can be 350 baht in a public hospital or 5,600 baht in a private hospital for the same check-ups, the private hospitals provide better checks, and have better drugs from my experience, and personally, I won't haggle on my health, you can take out outpatient as an option, but do expect your policy price to rise.

 

Had discussed with the wife about her and the 2 kids who have dual passports, and she said they are covered under the Thai system, so no need to get them covered under the private system, although there is one Thai insurer that will cover them if they have dual passports, i.e. they will not cover Thai's, and their rates are very good for the level of cover, so they would have to provide them with their other passports.

 

If you interested in any health insurance, PM me and I will forward you a spread sheet with a variety of health insurers, the thing to look out for is, why pay more for world cover if your not going to use it, hence the reason I opted for the Thailand cover and 4 neighboring countries, which is about 30,000 baht cheaper per year doing it this way, and like I said, you also get up to 90 emergency cover worldwide.

Sounds like you use the same group as me. I have never found anything even remotely as good as this in terms of value and who the underwriters are etc. Have always guaranteed the payment while in hospital, never had to pay first and then go to war trying to get my refund. Everything is paid for even your pills you take home. It's also ideal for the OP as they do a great deal for 2 children.

 

Agree that there is little point in getting outpatient cover.

 

[anonymouse2]

I'm hoping someone can clarify a gap in my knowledge of the Thai health system. My wife is considering accepting a job offer with her current employer in Bangkok, which includes an Aetna "personal care plan". By US standards, that coverage is quite paltry, with fairly low maximum benefits (but you can't beat the price). I don't see coverage for "catastrophic" coverage, for pre-existing conditions, congenital conditions, cancer, or other long-term, expensive, chronic conditions. Do most people go to Thai public hospitals for treatments of these conditions? Is there such a thing as "catastrophic" insurance for private hospitals?

 

Tangentially related, is there disability coverage available? In the US, if my wife were to get hurt while working, she would get something like 70% of her salary paid to her through private insurance on top of social security. If she got hurt while working in Thailand, is there a similar private insurance available or is it also covered under the Thai Social Security plan?

 

Thanks!

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, anonymouse2 said:

I'm hoping someone can clarify a gap in my knowledge of the Thai health system. My wife is considering accepting a job offer with her current employer in Bangkok, which includes an Aetna "personal care plan". By US standards, that coverage is quite paltry, with fairly low maximum benefits (but you can't beat the price). I don't see coverage for "catastrophic" coverage, for pre-existing conditions, congenital conditions, cancer, or other long-term, expensive, chronic conditions. Do most people go to Thai public hospitals for treatments of these conditions? Is there such a thing as "catastrophic" insurance for private hospitals?

 

Tangentially related, is there disability coverage available? In the US, if my wife were to get hurt while working, she would get something like 70% of her salary paid to her through private insurance on top of social security. If she got hurt while working in Thailand, is there a similar private insurance available or is it also covered under the Thai Social Security plan?

 

Thanks!

Personally, I am not sure, but best read the policy and if short on what you require, either get the wife to negotiate with them (if possible) or take out optional and pay for it. Thailand is very very very different to the rest of the modern world as we know it.

[Sheryl]

I'm hoping someone can clarify a gap in my knowledge of the Thai health system. My wife is considering accepting a job offer with her current employer in Bangkok, which includes an Aetna "personal care plan". By US standards, that coverage is quite paltry, with fairly low maximum benefits (but you can't beat the price). I don't see coverage for "catastrophic" coverage, for pre-existing conditions, congenital conditions, cancer, or other long-term, expensive, chronic conditions. Do most people go to Thai public hospitals for treatments of these conditions? Is there such a thing as "catastrophic" insurance for private hospitals?

 

Tangentially related, is there disability coverage available? In the US, if my wife were to get hurt while working, she would get something like 70% of her salary paid to her through private insurance on top of social security. If she got hurt while working in Thailand, is there a similar private insurance available or is it also covered under the Thai Social Security plan?

 

Thanks!

1. Private insurance provided by employers in Thailand is usually almost worthless due to ridiculously low levels of cover.  You want a minimum cover of 3 million baht per event, preferrably 5 million. Normally such policies will fully cover cancer treatment, dialysis etc both in and outpatient, even if the rest of the policy is inpatient only. No policy is going to cover pre-exisitng conditions or congenital conditions though some internationally issued private expat policies will cover some pre-exisitng conditions after a moratorium period of several years.

 

If this is the Atena Thailand "Persoanl care" plan it has a cap of 300,000 - 600,000 baht per event which is way, way too low.

 

2. By law, people employed are required to be entered into the Thai Social Security system the exception being private schools,  foreign governments and international organizations. So unless her employer is one of those,  she should ask if she will be covered under Social Security. Social Security provides full cover for virtually everything, both inpatient and outpatient, but only at the hospital you are registered at or a facility it refers you to.  There is a finite choice of hospitals and usually the best option will usually be a government hospital.

 

3. There is a disability payment under Thai SS, but at 50% of income, see this summary https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2010-2011/asia/thailand.html

 

4. All Thais not covered under SS are automatically covered under the "universal" health scheme which, like SS, provides pretty much everything free of charge but only at the government hospital which covers the location where you live (based on house registration) or another government hospital it refers you to. It is therefore wise to consider the quality of the local government hospital when choosing where to live and will be important to go through the red tape needed to ensure she and they are listed in a house registration ("tabian ban") for it. Chances are your wife is currently listed at her parents address and your children, if they were born abroad and have nto previously lived in Thailand, are not yet listed anywhere.

 

So your children will be covered and your wife will also be covered under either SS or the universal scheme. In addition it sounds like she'll have a low cap private policy which will be useful for non-catastrophic things of comparatively low cost.  You will need your own coverage. 

 

An important consideration for private policies is that  most Thai-issued insurance will increase rates based on claims/changes in health status so can (and will) price you out if you develop a chronic condition. This is especially important if you plan on living here permanently as once past a certain age and/or with chronic conditions it becomes difficult to impossible to get new coverage.

Depending on your age and whether you accept a deductible, a decent internationally issued policy (inpatient only) will run you from USD 1000 (age 30- 40) to  USD 3500 a year (age 65 or over - these are approximates) and will go up as you age.  I think you'll quickly find that the cost of adding private cover for your wife & children is prohibitive.  The quality of care at tertiary level government hospitals is good, though very long waits are the norm and creature comforts often lacking. Most TV memebrs do nto purchase priavte cover for Thai spouses or children with Thai citizenship.

 

Once you have decided whether you are buying cover for yourself only or for the whole family, I suggest you contact a broker. AA Insurance Brokers has been giving me excellent advise and I don't say that just because they are a forum spondor https://www.aainsure.net/.

 

 

[anonymouse2]

Thank you for the replies! It is the Aetna Personal Care plan - I'm glad that you concur the limits are ridiculously low.

 

Just to clarify, my wife and I are both Americans with no Thai heritage/citizenship. She will be covered by (Thai) Social Security - we've been advised of that. Does that apply to me, as the accompanying spouse, as well? We have no children. Both upper 30's age (I'll be 40 soon).

 

I'll reach out to your insurance recommendation.

[Sheryl]

Sorry I had you confused with the OP.

SS covers only the employee, not the spouse.

With the SS choosing the right hospital is important. Don't let her employer HR decide. Get the list and post here and I'll advise, or opt for the largest government hospital on the list.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app