Health insurance mandatory for long-stay foreigners in Thailand

[Dmaxdan]

Col Kathathorn also confirmed that the new insusrance requirement applies only to Non-Immigrant O-A "retirement" visas.
   
https://www.thephuketnews.com/cabinet-approves-mandatory-health-insurance-for-long-stay-visas-71424.php

Could it just be that many TV members will be spending the evening wiping egg off their faces?


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[BritManToo]

30 minutes ago, madmen said:

52 pages based on pure fiction. Amazing tv !

Good luck renting your condo now.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

35 minutes ago, simon43 said:

To comment to those who state that they are financially well-off and can self-fund any medical costs - this statement doesn't seem to allow for that option.  You need to have a suitable insurance policy, even if you're able to self-fund.

 

Actually, the OP article did have a brief mention about them considering the idea of allowing those who can't get regular insurance to cover the requirement via some kind of additional financial commitment. But just a mention, nothing committed to or promised. We'll have to wait and see what the final rules look like.

 

[fforest1]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Actually they won't as the foreigner wives of Thai men can apply for citizenship after they marry, and hardly any hoops.

So I can get rid of the hoops if I marry a ladyboy?

[Joe Mcseismic]

7 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Col Kathathorn also confirmed that the new insusrance requirement applies only to Non-Immigrant O-A "retirement" visas.
 

 

https://www.thephuketnews.com/cabinet-approves-mandatory-health-insurance-for-long-stay-visas-71424.php

If this is true and all people on visa extensions are exempt, then I still think these people should start looking at insuring themselves. The rules may change, but, be assured, one day you will get sick, or have an accident.

[Peterw42]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Good luck renting your condo now.

At least I know the tenant, if foreign, will have good health insurance, will be able to keep paying, lol

[mtls2005]

2 minutes ago, Dah fahrang said:

It is quite probable that mandatory insurance is to be required for first time visa applications, but then for subsequent extensions of stay, perhaps, once clarified, will translate to either purchasing annual insurance with cover of 400,000 Baht, or where insurance is not possible, retaining the same amount bonded and certified as held in a Thai Bank. (The infamous bank letter).

 

Good post, am hoping this is what comes to pass.

 

 

[fforest1]

1 minute ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

If this is true and all people on visa extensions are exempt, then I still think these people should start looking at insuring themselves. The rules may change, but, be assured, one day you will get sick, or have an accident.

Who cares if I cant pay I will just get me some of that free heath care that the Thai media is forever yapping about that loads of deadbeat farangs seem to get around here all the time....lol 

[CiderFizz]

Insurance companies usually reject applications for new policies from people aged 60 and over.

[Kerryd]

8 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Col Kathathorn also confirmed that the new insusrance requirement applies only to Non-Immigrant O-A "retirement" visas.
 

 

https://www.thephuketnews.com/cabinet-approves-mandatory-health-insurance-for-long-stay-visas-71424.php

 

"Col Kathathorn also confirmed that the new insusrance requirement applies only to Non-Immigrant O-A "retirement" visas." (Not my spelling !)

A real kick in the teeth to all those who aren't married if that's true. Surely all the old married gits are more likely to be hospitalized than us swinging single guys !

Keep in mind that the recent change to the "money in bank" method (requiring the cash to be in the bank after the extension was granted) also only applied to "Retirement" extensions and not to marriage ones.

Maybe it's not the insurance mafia that is behind these changes but the "getting to old to shake it anymore" beerbar girl mafia ! Trying to use changes to the Immigration rules to make more old single guys marry not-as-old bar girls that have gone past their "prime" ! Maybe too many sick buffalo in Isaan haven't been getting their lao khao prescriptions filled lately and their roofs are leaking a little too much as well.
 

[brewsterbudgen]

and extension on stay

There is no official indication of that.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[holy cow cm]

18 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

Could it just be that many TV members will be spending the evening wiping egg off their faces?


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

Yeah maybe. But watch it be for marriage and family support 200,00 baht in and 20,000 baht out. That fits the requirement matched with retirement.

[Joe Mcseismic]

9 minutes ago, CiderFizz said:

Insurance companies usually reject applications for new policies from people aged 60 and over.

And yet...........there is a list of reputable insurance companies posted on this thread, that do just that.

[Speedo1968]

4 hours ago, eddysmit said:

Well said, and yes it's looking like the Thai top dogs want us oldies gone, like you I have paid for all the good treatment I have received with the Thai hospitals and clinics, and in the same sort of predicament as you insofar as returning to the UK for a much earlier demise, wait until I tell my good Thai lady what the Thai authorities want, looks like my days are over here,and try and time it to return to the UK springtime and maybe I will get a rented place in the UK and return as a short stayer, don't know how long I can do the ever increasingly difficult airplane trips though.

Many thanks eddysmit for your reply and my feelings are with you.

My health has improved considerably over the past two years, that would soon go to pot if temps drop below 28C having worked in hot countries since the 1980's.

I am on my own so have one less worry, except for the Thai friends I would leave behind.

I spent a number of years with a UK company flying the ASPAC route almost monthly, up to 50 flights per year, very tiring.   

I have tried using a split journey too and from the UK for a 10 day visit, cheaper but difficult.   If there was a way to just cross borders for each 3 month visit or will it mean getting a multi-entry visa issued in the UK ?

Forking out 1,000GBP for a return flight to the UK when I would prefer to spend a few days in Penang to get a 90day visa.

How those with a loving Thai family are going to cope, it's not nice to contemplate.

I wish you well.

[JimmyJ]

9 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Read between the lines, 40 billion dollars left the country in cash last year in one transaction. 

What transaction was that?

[Krataiboy]

Many long-stay foreigners in Thailand are, like me, either too old and infirm to get private medical cover - at any price.

 

Unless the Thai authorities fail to implement the suggested alternative of a deposited lump sum in lieu of potential medical care, the only alternative for some of us will be to up sticks and go.

 

Is this really what the government wants - particularly considering how many of us are supporting Thai families and making a substantial contribution to GDP?

 

Retirees unable to buy medical insurance are caught between a rock and a hard place, forced to pay as private patients in Thailand, yet often denied state healthcare in their own homelands.  

 

The "uninsurables" among us are praying the Thai government will accept a lump sum of cash in the bank as an acceptable alternative for visa purposes. There is, however, another option immigration bosses might consider.

 

Why not let the unlucky few who seem to have fallen through a crack in official policy, pay to become temporary members of the Thai state health scheme for the remaining few years of  their lives?  They could be asked to contribute an age-related joining fee plus an annual premium to get the same treatment as Thais.

 

This would be a win-win situation, generating much-needed upfront funding for the creaking Thai health service  (a worthier cause, arguably, than any insurance company) while providing some peace of mind for a particularly vulnerable minority.

 

The alternative, for many of us "uninsurables" is unthinkable.

 

Surely, not even the most hard-hearted government would wish us to abandon our Thai families - a wife and five children in my case - and the country we have learned to call home.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Krataiboy

[Joe Mcseismic]

8 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

 

"Col Kathathorn also confirmed that the new insusrance requirement applies only to Non-Immigrant O-A "retirement" visas." (Not my spelling !)

A real kick in the teeth to all those who aren't married if that's true. Surely all the old married gits are more likely to be hospitalized than us swinging single guys !

Keep in mind that the recent change to the "money in bank" method (requiring the cash to be in the bank after the extension was granted) also only applied to "Retirement" extensions and not to marriage ones.

Maybe it's not the insurance mafia that is behind these changes but the "getting to old to shake it anymore" beerbar girl mafia ! Trying to use changes to the Immigration rules to make more old single guys marry not-as-old bar girls that have gone past their "prime" ! Maybe too many sick buffalo in Isaan haven't been getting their lao khao prescriptions filled lately and their roofs are leaking a little too much as well.
 

What are you on about? It's only Non-Imm OA visa holders affected, not extensions for retirement, or marriage.

[twocatsmac]

9 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Read between the lines, 40 billion dollars left the country in cash last year in one transaction. 

And that’s only what was in Big Jokes suitcase. 

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, Melbun said:

Oh dear will you be missed ??

He won't be missed, but his money will.

[david555]

3 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

What are you on about? It's only Non-Imm OA visa holders affected, not extensions for retirement, or marriage.

PHUKET: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has announced that Cabinet has approved mandatory health insurance as a new requirement for all foreigners staying in the country on one-year Non-Immigrant O-A “visas”, or “permits-to-stay” - better known simply as ’retirement visas’.
Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/cabinet-approves-mandatory-health-insurance-for-long-stay-visas-71424.php#5FrAl3f06jRmcbEP.99

 

The lines in red make the confusion , and further how the local I.O. go read and implicate 

[Jim P]

What will be the situation in the next few months? I already have my new Non O-A visa and I am ready to retire to Thailand in August. I fully intend getting a comprehensive  insurance policy once I am there but will just have a 90 day insurance on entry. Is there any chance I will be stopped entry at the airport?

[yellowboat]

4 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The other thing the OP article doesn't even address is the fact that A LOT of Thai insurers won't write new medical insurance policies for ANYONE, Thai or farang, once a person gets older, with the cutoff ages varying by insurer... Once you get beyond 65 here, there are still options, but the choices get much fewer.

 

Was thinking the same thing.  Either another insurer will step in to fill the gap, or find another country.  Thailand's shtick is getting old. 

[sirineou]

 This june I will be 62, by now everything is a pre existing condition, and as I am getting older ,even the few thing that are not pre existing are becoming prohibitively expensive to insure against in the private market.

The way things are becoming in Thailand, our plans to retire there permanently in the house we have built are  quickly  changing to six months in Thailand , six months in the US.

Hope I don't have a heart attack while there because no insurance will cover my heart condition.

They should allow those with extensions to stay based on  marriage buy into the same basic government health insurance plan their family is covered under.

 Such a scheme would be a money maker for the Thai government and provide additional finance for the system, 

  I would be happy to pay a reasonable amount for emergency medical care  and as with most other Expats I would travel back home for anything major, or for medical tests where my medical insurance is , anyway.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

And yet...........there is a list of reputable insurance companies posted on this thread, that do just that.

 

It is certainly possible to get regular health insurance coverage for Thailand even as folks get older, either from local Thai insurers or from international insurers.... Age 65 and beyond narrows your choices, but doesn't rule out coverage....

 

See the info that was posted earlier on this here:

 

 

[Seafarer124]

8 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

I'm 42, no need for that thanks.

 

I have something called empathy for people who have built a life here and spent millions in the process. Most just want to live out their days here drama free

Empathy is lacking in bucket loads these days.

Totally agree with you Sticky.  Many, including myself, have built their life here, financial and emotional.  

Going "Home" is not an option for many, there is nothing for them in their country of birth.

I left my my country of birth forty five years ago.

There will always be those that do the right thing, and those that don't.  Unfortunately, good actors are always penalised for the bad actors.

My theory is, this is my world and it trumps your country.

 

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

I am actually surprised it has taken the government so long to demand that farang have insurance.

Wonder what will happen to those married with children, can they join the national scheme??

 

What about the Thais who are living in western countries? What about the guys who have taken 

their Thai wives to stay in the UK? Are these Thai wives paying for their medical treatment?

[Tanoshi]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

According to Nattawuth, the new rule applies to both new applicants for the non-immigrant visa (O-A), which offers a stay of up to one year, and those wishing to renew their visa. Each renewal is valid for one year.

 

14 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

What are you on about? It's only Non-Imm OA visa holders affected, not extensions for retirement, or marriage. 

Immigration often refer to extensions as Visas.

In that context they mean 'long stayer's', which will almost certainly include 1 year extensions.

[sambum]

9 hours ago, Melbun said:

Go back home - come back as a visitor 4 X a year.

Will probably still need travel insurance, and the cost of 4 return air flights ain't cheap - probably more expensive than the "mandatory health insurance" 

[marcusarelus]

30 minutes ago, CiderFizz said:

Insurance companies usually reject applications for new policies from people aged 60 and over.

Read the OP under insurance companies. 

[Tanoshi]

2 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

What about the Thais who are living in western countries? What about the guys who have taken 

their Thai wives to stay in the UK? Are these Thai wives paying for their medical treatment?

Yes!

They have to pay a NHS surcharge fee as part of the application.