Health insurance mandatory for long-stay foreigners in Thailand

[Sheryl]

11 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

Out of curiosity Sheryl, what was the Immigration status of these foreigners.

Tourists, Visa holders, or those on extensions of stay.

mixed. All of the above.

 

 

[newnative]

   I am 67 and currently just have hospitalization with my health insurance, paying 874 Euros a trimester with April International.  When I thought I might need to have outpatient insurance, as well, I checked with them about adding it and just got their reply.  My premium goes up to a whopping 2124 Euros a trimester.  Don't ask me why outpatient costs more than hospitalization; makes no sense to me.

[Tanoshi]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

mixed. All of the above.

 

 

Interesting. but what area are you talking about.

 

In more remote areas like Isaan, the culprits for non payment of bills are Lao, Cambodian, Myanmar visitors/workers according to my local hospital.

Only one westerner on a TV left an unpaid bill due to passing away.

[Rimmer]

Off topic post removed

[cheshiremusicman]

On 5/14/2019 at 9:01 AM, andygrr said:

So under 50's don't get sick of fall of motorbikes. Leave the long stayers alone who generally don't run away leaving unpaid medical bills and stop letting in tourists with no valid travel insurance they are the ones cost the hospitals. Also cap the charges set by private hospitals.

Totally agree with the Thai Government investigating the charges made by private hospitals here in Thailand.

I have used the local Military Hospital her in Hua-Hin for two monthly blood tests after suffering blood clots in both lungs whilst in the UK before returning to HH. The cost of this test is minimal and I pay about 250 B in total to have the blood tested and see the Doctor for the results which takes about 2+ hours normally.

A few years ago I had a brain hemorrhage and my doctor at the Military Hospital said it would be advisable to have the operation at a private hospital here in HH, but it could be done at either the Military or the HH General and he said that he would contact friends in the private hospitals to inquire what they would charge for the operation etc. The result was the lowest quote of 1 million for the operation and another 1 million for the aftercare. I was over 70 years old when this happened and had cancelled my private health insurance when I was 69 because of the exponential annual increases in the premiums. To cut a long story short I had my brain operation at the HH General Hospital (on the same day that I was transferred there) and spent one week recovering before returning home to convalesce and the TOTAL bill for both hospitals was 44,500 Baht. I have nothing but admiration for the Thai National Heal Service and the treatments I have received from them and hopefully can continue to receive when needed.

I would be very willing to lock up say 500,000 B in a nominated 'Health Fund Bank Account' to cover any medical costs I might incur and keep this topped up to that amount to prove that I can and will pay any medical costs that I might incur.

I would like to know how many people like myself, who have used the Thai National Health Service have walked out of the hospital WITHOUT paying for their treatment; I would suspect that it would be very few? Why not insist, that ALL people using the Thai National Health Services have to deposit their passports at the hospital until discharged after paying for their treatment - problem solved!

[BritManToo]

32 minutes ago, cheshiremusicman said:

Why not insist, that ALL people using the Thai National Health Services have to deposit their passports at the hospital until discharged after paying for their treatment - problem solved!

Burmese, Laos and Cambodians don't generally have passports, so it wouldn't solve the problem.

[Pattaya46]

Most of the 112 page of these thread were discussion for nothing...

 

Mandatory health insurance for over 50s in Thailand only affects those on Non-Immigrant Visa O-A

The requirement for mandatory health insurance does not affect those people who stay in Thailand on a Non O extension of stay based on retirement.

 

 

 

[RPCVguy]

On 5/24/2019 at 3:34 PM, Pattaya46 said:

Most of the 112 page of these thread were discussion for nothing...

Mandatory health insurance for over 50s in Thailand only affects those on Non-Immigrant Visa O-A

The requirement for mandatory health insurance does not affect those people who stay in Thailand on a Non O extension of stay based on retirement.

 

 

Agree!  Much of the past month's discussions have been due to lack of precision in the early announcements... which continues slightly in this post.

" The requirement for mandatory health insurance does not affect those people who stay in Thailand on a Non O extension of stay based on retirement.

The requirement also does not apply to those staying in Thailand on a marriage extension or an extension of stay based on being a parent to a Thai child."

 

Even this post could be more precise by saying that "those newly applying to stay in Thailand" ... or ...

IMPLIED BUT NOT EXPLICITLY STATED, THAT AN EXTENSION OF THE "O-A" VISA AS SHOWN IN THE PHOTO (IF DONE WITHIN THAILAND) IS CONSIDERED A NON O EXTENSION.

[Sailboat]

Will immigration accept Tricare medical insurance to renew the retirement visa?

[SpokaneAl]

Will immigration accept Tricare medical insurance to renew the retirement visa?

At this point there is no requirement for medical insurance if one is attempting to buy an extension of stay obtained in Thailand and going forward who knows what will happen. The only visa that is an actual visa and appears to require medical insurance is the non imm o-a multi entry visa that is only bought from a Thai Embassy or Consulate in one’s home country. It looks like that requirement will start June 1, although that date appears to be a tad nebulous.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk