Can anyone recommend a good health insurance for expats?

[dennis123]

I'm Dutch but not registered in Holland anymore and as such uninsured.

 

Any recommendations for a decent but affordable health insurance?

 

I'm 42 and healthy enough, I just want coverage in case something bad happens, like heart surgery, kidney transplant, car accident, that kind of things. I don't care about small things like health check-ups or medication, as in I can pay that out of my own pocket.

 

I don't work for a Thai company, I'm just a freelancer with clients outside of Thailand, mostly the US/UK.

Edited November 3, 2018 by dennis123

[ukrules]

It depends on your budget and what amount of cover you want.

 

For example if you want a full comprehensive package that would include things like longer term cancer treatment then I would suggest something like the package I have from 'BUPA Global' - not to be confused with whatever BUPA Thailand have rebranded themselves as.

 

This kind of cover is not cheap but no matter how ill you are, you are covered, by covered I'm talking up to millions of Euro per year.

 

I currently pay about 12k Baht per month for this, the price has been creeping up at around 15%+ per year recently so I might start shopping around which I can still do as I have no new existing conditions and have never claimed on it.

 

It's only there for the worst case scenario and has an excess of 500 UK Pounds. I don't think it matters where you come from as they are a global insurance company.

 

This would be the high end package. There are lots of other options but it all comes down to the insured amount / maximum payout. The more you pay the more they can pay out.

 

[dennis123]

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

It depends on your budget and what amount of cover you want.

 

For example if you want a full comprehensive package that would include things like longer term cancer treatment then I would suggest something like the package I have from 'BUPA Global' - not to be confused with whatever BUPA Thailand have rebranded themselves as.

 

This kind of cover is not cheap but no matter how ill you are, you are covered, by covered I'm talking up to millions of Euro per year.

 

I currently pay about 12k Baht per month for this, the price has been creeping up at around 15%+ per year recently so I might start shopping around which I can still do as I have no new existing conditions and have never claimed on it.

 

It's only there for the worst case scenario and has an excess of 500 UK Pounds. I don't think it matters where you come from as they are a global insurance company.

 

This would be the high end package. There are lots of other options but it all comes down to the insured amount / maximum payout. The more you pay the more they can pay out.

 

Yeah while searching in Google I've seen some that cover up to 80,000 baht per incident and I was like I can pay that myself, hardly a backup.

 

I'm going to look into Regency, just noticed they pop up everywhere on this site with their ads.

[Sheryl]

It is best to buy through a broker. Does not cost more and they will help if any problems arise with claims.

AA brokers are very good. I use them myself. They have probably the most experience with expat health insurance and also work with the widest range of insurers. Some brokers only work with local companies and these are often not the best choice.

[email protected] or go to their website www.aainsure.net If you are in Hua Hin, Pattaya or Phuket they have offices there and you can get face to face service otherwise by email.

They will give you personalized advice and comparison charts of different options. At your age, ask particularly about David Shield .

The way to get cover for only major expenses is to:

1. Select inpatient cover only.

2. Choose a deductible ("excess") in amount equal to what you can readily pay out of pocket. This will lower your premium cost.

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

[dennis123]

3 hours ago, Sheryl said:

[email protected] or go to their website www.aainsure.net If you are in Hua Hin, Pattaya or Phuket they have offices there and you can get face to face service otherwise by email.

They will give you personalized advice and comparison charts of different options. At your age, ask particularly about David Shield .

The way to get cover for only major expenses is to:

1. Select inpatient cover only.

2. Choose a deductible ("excess") in amount equal to what you can readily pay out of pocket. This will lower your premium cost.

3

Awesome thanks, I will visit their office in Pattaya as I prefer face-to-face indeed. I don't want to spend too much so I will keep point 2 in mind.

 

All the tests were fine so far, except for a few minor things, but the chest pain is still here, and yesterday it actually was more on the left instead of usually on the right ???? so I think it would be clever to get an insurance first, perhaps show the health checkup report from Bangkok Pattaya hospital that I'm in fine condition so that they won't put me as a risk factor.

 

Do they even ask for something like that before accepting someone?

[Sheryl]

They do not ask for a health report but there will be a health questionnaire.

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

[topt]

On 11/4/2018 at 1:37 PM, dennis123 said:

Awesome thanks, I will visit their office in Pattaya as I prefer face-to-face indeed. I don't want to spend too much so I will keep point 2 in mind.

 

All the tests were fine so far, except for a few minor things, but the chest pain is still here, and yesterday it actually was more on the left instead of usually on the right ???? so I think it would be clever to get an insurance first, perhaps show the health checkup report from Bangkok Pattaya hospital that I'm in fine condition so that they won't put me as a risk factor.

 

Do they even ask for something like that before accepting someone?

As an example here are a couple of the application forms including the health questionnaires - I am going through the process at the moment.....

Luma Application Form - Asia Care Plus Thailand 2018_Updated.pdf

DShield Application-Form-intl 10022016.pdf

 

[topt]

On 11/4/2018 at 1:37 PM, dennis123 said:

I will visit their office in Pattaya as I prefer face-to-face indeed

If doing that I would suggest calling first and making an appointment to see Wim Fokkema - he seems to specialise more than others there in health insurance. 

[dennis123]

6 minutes ago, topt said:

As an example here are a couple of the application forms including the health questionnaires - I am going through the process at the moment.....

Luma Application Form - Asia Care Plus Thailand 2018_Updated.pdf

DShield Application-Form-intl 10022016.pdf

 

Thanks a ton, I'll have a look at them, and yes I visited their website yesterday, looks like appointment only indeed.

[dennis123]

21 hours ago, Sheryl said:

They do not ask for a health report but there will be a health questionnaire.

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

Is there any way for them to verify any of it?

 

You might remember my thread where I got myself diagnosed with ADD to give Ritalin a try, and you felt that I kind of tricked them lol. After a few weeks I actually returned the Ritalin and Paxil, then tried Stablon for a few months, and didn't feel it helped much either so I stopped with all that. Not really worth mentioning is it?

 

One question specifically mentioned it and yeah i did semi-tricked them as in that I think I have a very mild version of ADD, and depression is something I can live with without the need for medication, also pretty minor really.

[Sheryl]

If it is discovered at any time that you lied on your application it will invalidate the entire policy.

 

And when you have a claim you have to sign permission for them to access your hospital records.

 

Tell the truth in response to any question they ask. I don't think you have to volunteer unasked for info but do nto lie.

 

If you end up with psych problems excluded, won't much matter in an inpatient-only  policy.