Australian / Thai health insurance

[rob2013]

Does anyone have any great deals / suggestions for both Australian and Thai health cover?

 

I'm an Australian citizen, in my 30's, been here 5yrs on travel insurance, likely to stay here a while longer, but have recently realised that long term travel insurance is not that safe.

 

At the moment my top 2 options seem to be: 

- International cover through Bupa, or AXA, etc.

- Australian policy (suspended after the first year) with a separate additional Thai domestic policy.

 

Have you worked something out that you'd recommend?

[Sheryl]

Can you explain why you also need Australian cover? Are you no longer covered under Medicare, or other reason?

 

And also do you go back to Oz each year and for how long (i.e. how long in Thailand vs Oz most years)?

 

This will   help me figure out what your needs are.

 

There aren't any Thai domestic policies per se. There are policies issued by Thailand based companies as opposed to issued by countries based elsewhere but most policies will cover you worldwide, or worldwide except specific places. (up to the insured amount, of course, which if it is a Thai issued policy will be too low to be of much use in the West).

 

 

[rob2013]

I'm still covered under medicare, however my wife is not (filipino).  I am now looking for a policy for both of us.

 

I'm thinking about Australian cover for myself for 2 reasons. 1) I don't want a gap in cover if I return to Australia to live (no waiting periods again). 2) I am interested in elective surgery (private) to fix a sinus issue.

 

For me, my main concern is emergency medical, lifetime policy, covered for driving/riding on a Thai license, and the fore-mentioned elective sinus surgery.

For my wife, same emergency cover + pregnancy after any waiting periods.

 

Thanks Sheryl

[blackcab]

@Sheryl is away until the 15th. I have tagged this post so that she will be able to message you on her return.

[Sheryl]

Cigna Global policies cover worldwide except US so would serve to cover you in both Thailand and Oz.

Expat insurance policies pretty much by defintion will not cover you in your home country so even though some, like Cigna Glibal, offer worldwide coverage I don't think that can include your country of citizenship except for emergencies during short term visits. You could contact Cigna and ask about this but that's my impression.

In addition no insurer will cover the sinus op since it is a pre-existing condition.

As it sounds like you do not plan a return to Oz in the immediate future you would probably do best to just get an expat policy to cover you in Thailand (and anywhere else you travel to).

Given your young age suggest looking at David Shield.

Then when you are ready to return to Oz look into a supplemental private insurance policy for thete



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[rob2013]

Thanks Sheryl. I'll give Cigna a call. I've already been in contact with David Shield and they look to be the best so far.

 

Sheryl what are you thoughts on local providers? From what I am reading on misterprakan all the limits are far too low and anything with decent limits becomes more expensive than an International provider. 

 

Regarding the sinus issue, all the Australian providers I have spoken with say that this would be covered after a waiting period of 12 months. So to get that taken care of, I just need to open a policy today, schedule the surgery for 12 months time and then fly to Australia at the appropriate time. That is most likely what I am going to do.

 

Thanks

Rob

[Small Joke]

13 minutes ago, rob2013 said:

Thanks Sheryl. I'll give Cigna a call. I've already been in contact with David Shield and they look to be the best so far.

 

Sheryl what are you thoughts on local providers? From what I am reading on misterprakan all the limits are far too low and anything with decent limits becomes more expensive than an International provider. 

 

Regarding the sinus issue, all the Australian providers I have spoken with say that this would be covered after a waiting period of 12 months. So to get that taken care of, I just need to open a policy today, schedule the surgery for 12 months time and then fly to Australia at the appropriate time. That is most likely what I am going to do.

 

Thanks

Rob

Why not get the sinus fixed here? 

World class surgeons at a fraction of the price. 

I use World Nomads. Aussie based. But they will recognise Thailand as your residence, and cover for travel as well. 

Remember, unless you have a reason to fly home other than surgery, you've now added travel costs to the bill. Returning Back to Thailand in a hurry, in a pressurised cabin after sinus surgery could be painful, even dangerous, and you won't be covered then if it goes pear shaped inflight. Aircrew are grounded even with the common cold for good reason. 

Edited October 28, 2018 by Small Joke

[rob2013]

2 minutes ago, Small Joke said:

Why not get the sinus fixed here? 

World class surgeons at a fraction of the price. 

I use World Nomads. Aussie based. But they will recognise Thailand as your residence, and cover for travel as well. 

The problem with travel insurance is if something is chronic they are under no obligation to renew your insurance. So once it runs out you're on your own, generally speaking. Do you know if World Nomads is different?

 

Getting the sinus fixed here is still a 100k + job. Far more expensive than 2 years of health cover in Australia.

[Sheryl]

Travel insurance pays only for emergency care. It will never cover something like the sinus surgery.

 

If Oz insurers would cover it after a waiting period despite it being known as a pre-existing condition now, that is most unusual and I know of no international expat policy that would do this.

 

Indeed the local Thai health insurance market is not very good, most policies have ridiculously low limits (so much so that nto worth having) and those with decent limits cost as much as international policies. In addition,  most locally issued policies include a clause that allows them to raise premiums on an individual basis if your health status changes or you have large claims. Policies issued in the west do nto. It is a difference in the insurance regulations of Thailand vs Western countries.

 

Re the sinus, if you are not planning to travel back to Oz anyhow you might want to consider self financing it in Thailand. There is a very good ENT at St Louis Hospital on Sathirn, Prof. Songklot, and this is a comparatively inexpensive hospital as it is not for profit. Might be worth seeing him and getting an estimate and comparing that to cost of flying back to OZ etc.

 

It would entail some hassle but you could also likely get it done at a Thai government hospital in which case cost would be about 1/3 of what you get quoted at St Louis.

 

 

[rob2013]

Thanks Sheryl,

 

I saw Dr Songklot last week, however he didn't give me confidence that he would be able to correct the issue. He recommended I try steroids for a couple of months and see how I go. After pushing him that I wanted to actually correct the issue, his response was that he could correct the deviated septum, however it may work, may not.  His 'ball-park' quote (he wouldn't even give me a proper quote until I'd tried the steroid spray for 2 months... was 100,000B++

The doctor I saw in Sydney told me that he sees people like me all the time who have reduced breathing capacity in their nose resulting in a lot of mouth breathing. He said that after surgery most people report that it is life changing for them.  He recommended the following for me - Anterior functional septorhinoplasty, Inferior Turbinoplasty.

Our Australian medical system is very good. I have joined a private health fund in Australia for 2600B per month, and have the surgery scheduled for Jan 2020. There is a co-payment, however that shouldn't exceed ~20,000B. You can do the math but that is cheap.

[rob2013]

To also answer my original question, if anyone else is interested, the following is what I have found out:

 

Australia:

 

I have signed up for Australian top private health cover (most of them have similar policies for the following) and after the first 12 months I will suspend the policy so I no longer have to keep paying, however if I go home for holidays, or if I migrate back home, I just re-activate the policy before I fly and there are no waiting periods for anything.

 

Options for Thailand:

 

1. Travel insurance which is purchased before you leave Australia is very cheap, and easily renewed overseas. I've held this for many years. The only downside is that if you get very sick they'll send you home and cancel the policy. If you go with this option then I recommend an active private policy in Australia to pick up if you get sent home. Also only really an option if you have the option to migrate 'home' to Australia. If you have strong ties in Thailand this isn't really going to work.

 

2. An international expat policy which gives full cover in Thailand and is a lifetime policy (contractually obligated to renew each year no matter what happens to you).

 

3. Local insurers are not worth it in my opinion. You don't want the cheaper plans as the cover isn't good enough.

 

 

Global cover:

 

Most expat policy exclude your country of origin from the policy (in this case Australia).

 

The only policy I found which answers my original query is Bupa who will give you an international policy, however you have to manually call them and change it to an Australian policy if you migrate there. Its also super expensive. Not really ideal in my opinion.