Health insurance mandatory for long-stay foreigners in Thailand

[PerkinsCuthbert]

2 hours ago, jlwilliamsjr18 said:

This is good for insurance companies, but for people over 65, it's not.  The funds needed 400-800 K is for that purpose.  Why double up.  NOW... it's important to note, equity has to play a role. There are schools and businesses that provide work permits, with no health insurance benefits. This is a fact. How many foreign laborers have health insurance?  Actually quite a few. They fall under the Thai national health insurance.  Why not offer that option to long stay retirees. Of course those who have the resources can pick other options. 

Too much logic. This is Thailand.

[stanleycoin]

Just now, GeorgeCross said:

guess i'll be cancelling the gym membership and start drinking again!

 

party on.. might as well get my moneys worth

Nice one. 

[holy cow cm]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Ask your fellow expat low lifes who have not been paying their hospital bills...

And how many is that? I say it is primarily based on tourists who come and get hurt and then  can't pay. How many articles in the last few months have had a Jane or Ricky got hurt but can't pay their bills on holiday? How many expats have you heard of skipping out? Ofcourse there has to be some, but in all honesty it looks as if they are targeting over 50 retirees as a stick-it-to-ya clearing of the brush again. I myself am included in the over 50 as of now, but not retiree visa. If affordable and reasonable then ok I am fine, but it looks like an over 50 witch hunt of stick-it-to-ya as all foreigners are undesirable. Going to the USA now one requires you to have insurance. Why does Thailand think they are so special? If it does get too ridiculous I might move to Vietnam and then just visit my family here.

[brewsterbudgen]

I read recently that the rules have changed. If you haven't lived in the Uk for a certain number of years (I forget how many, but it isn't many) then you will have to pay for treatment. I know this applies to myself.
Do a Google search. I am too lazy right now.

You will get free NHS treatment if you can show that you have returned to the UK to live there.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[mania]

Can anyone who has been following all the news blurbs about unpaid insurance bills or all the go fund me pages or the new Visa requirements

really say they didn't see this coming like a freight train?

Many have mentioned it was coming many times

 

My guesstimates on whats next?

 

To those who wonder how long it will take to become law...Seems it is law now.

As for sussing out the exact definition? Thai Immigration will not care

Did not having all the increased funds details stop Immigration from turning away many going for visa extensions recently? NO

Meaning Thai officials never let something silly like understanding or

details get in the way of them rubber stamping all but the Visa Agent backhanders with a big NO can / Mai Dai

 

So insurance freight train has now pulled into station parked alongside increased bank fund visa ext requirements

Insurance Load is light at this time....It will surely be aimed at anyone over 50 on a retirement extension or based on marriage extension

400k in coverage & 40k out

 

But next year sure as Sh1t you know they will say they are overwhelmed with cases where the hospital bills far exceeded the coverage

So expect next year to double or more

Sadly this will not likely be because expats used the coverage so much as the Thai doctors now knowing all expats are covered will

be recommending many "procedures"

 

Good Luck to all

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2019 by mania

[smedly]

19 minutes ago, 1DegreeN said:

If you follow the link from the longstay.tgia.org page to Viraya Insurance's website - https://www.viriyah.co.th/en/longstay-form.php#.XNoaJ44zZaQ it states that a Long Stay Visa is a 5 year visa - so perhaps this new rule is just for those with Elite visas and those of us on retirement/marriage extensions are covered by the income/money-in-the-bank requirement.

correct and soon to be a requirement for O-A visa obtained in home country

 

Extensions of stay already have their own financial requirements updated recently to include a minimum 12 month Thai bank balance of 400k baht 

 

People are reading too much into this and getting their wires crossed about what is being referred to in this topic

[rott]

48 minutes ago, travelerjim said:

Read again. .it is for those on LONG STAY....O-A and Extensions of Stay for retirement are included.

I must read it again then I was unaware of Extensions of Stay for retirement being mentioned.

I did see something about visas being renewed but I do not know which visas are renewed, thought you had to apply for a new one.

[william76]

Something to take into account: the opd coverage is 2,000 bahts per time per day 20 to 40 times per year. It is usually not enough to cover a doctor's visit with some exams. And who goes 20 times per year to a doctor?

Also from my own experience, some insurances are not reliable.I used to get a health insurance from a famous bank and had to stay 3 nights in hospital,with their ok. Just before release, a hospital staff came to inform me that the company requested me to pay first, and "they would see later what they would pay ".

Very,very awkward situation where you are just taken hostage.

I had to pay but needless to say I didn't renew my policy.

There is no way you can sue an insurance company.

[sumrit]

1 minute ago, brewsterbudgen said:

You will get free NHS treatment if you can show that you have returned to the UK to live there.

And I was told that would be after you had returned to the UK for more than six months.

[anchadian]

2 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

You will get free NHS treatment if you can show that you have returned to the UK to live there.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

Correct

[wwest5829]

1 hour ago, Melbun said:

Well stay at home (wherever that was) and don't travel. You make the choice.

I, like many expats I meet here from western countries, have moved to Thailand and other countries because we cannot afford to live or live a comfortable middle-class retirement in our own countries. That is the real result of 30-40 years of the economic squeeze on the working middle-class.

[Peterw42]

The page https://longstay.tgia.org links to some companies already doing insurance for the O-X  visa's. A couple of them do coverage and new policies up to 100 years old. 

 

[peter14]

 They think they can do without foreigners. Very low IQ   the country is  in a total mess
 This is a bit over the top. Look to the Thai themselves. Do they have insurance? And with this high coverage? Or is it dual pricing?

[petedk]

1 minute ago, brewsterbudgen said:

You will get free NHS treatment if you can show that you have returned to the UK to live there.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

Yes, but then you don't live in Thailand.

 

I must admit I always had in the back of my mind that if I became seriously ill I could return to the UK or Denmark (where I lived for 20 years) for treatment and then come back to Thailand. Brexit messed up my Denmark plans. 

 

I don't have a home in UK, but I have have a brother I could stay with.

I also have children in Denmark, but I guess it won't be so easy to go there and get free treatment anymore.

[utalkin2me]

4 hours ago, Orac said:

 

Yes - the over 50 bit does imply just retirement extensions but not clear if they will include those of us on marriage extensions.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

The wording seems very clear to me. "The non imm O-A"....

 

Of course they could have stated it wrong, or they could change their minds, or maybe that was not what they meant, or....

 

Based on the wording, I am betting at this point it wont apply to Non-imm O. 

Edited May 14, 2019 by utalkin2me

[Time Traveller]

And now watch insurance premiums skyrocket! 

Saw the same thing happen in America. Insurance industry is going to clean up.

Milk them stupid old farangs is now Thailand Policy numero uno.. 

[globalnomad12]

Can anyone confirm the actual date when this mandatory health in surname policy kicks in?  My annual retirement visa extension date is June 2019

 

[Paulbuick1]

Most over 70s can't get health insurance so does this mean a one way ticket back to home country to sleep in a tent? Let's hope things become more clearer in the next few days. Surely if you can show over 400,000 baht in addition to your other funds required to stay in Thailand and you can't get insurance this will be OK? 

[Peterw42]

Just now, peter14 said:

 They think they can do without foreigners. Very low IQ   the country is  in a total mess
 This is a bit over the top. Look to the Thai themselves. Do they have insurance? And with this high coverage? Or is it dual pricing?

Thai have free or subsidised medical, why would they need insurance.

[ginjag]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

No you don't get my point. 

The amounts are low.

The outpatient requirement is BIZARRE. clearly for the insurance companies.

So you get a policy that excludes all preexisting conditions, most older people have multiple ones, you pay your money, and then you're not really covered.

DUH. 

Exactly,   Mega premiums,  Pre=existing conditions a get out of cover,  SO PAY FOR WHAT  ????  Over age...you are on a mega loser,    As previous stated --what is the 800,000  for  ?????

[anchadian]

1 minute ago, sumrit said:

And I was told that would be after you had returned to the UK for more than six months.

Not correct.  You would receive immediate NHS treatment if you returned to live in the UK.

[RotMahKid]

3 hours ago, rodknock said:

i am 71 and a couple of quotes were 80,000 to 94,000baht.

this on top of my monthly 65,000baht for immigration

You mix up 2 different amounts, one is yearly, the other monthly.

[mania]

1 hour ago, malibukid said:

the American government should step up to the plate and extend Medicare coverage to it's citizens abroad.  but as usual they will just throw us under the bus.  thanks to the Republicans. 

Never happen

 

You think the USA will extend coverage to a Junta ruled country?

You think they would trust the Thai billing?

 

I think it would not happen in our lifetime

[madmitch]

This has obviously been in the planning for some time as insurance companies have had the time to develop products specifically with the limits as outlined. Even the website linked in the OP works well and has actually been proofread (not that accurately though!). So those blaming the new Immigration chief are well off the mark.

 

I've looked at the policies and the majority are well overpriced for the coverage and you can get better limits for the same price. Pacific Cross is the cheapest and I use them already and have had no problems in having claims paid. How the generic Thai insurers have calculated their premiums I don't know. These companies are not big players in the expat health insurance business and it seems they have loaded their premiums heavily. Aetna and AXA don't have their products on view just yet.

 

As for the limits: is it a coincidence that the 400,000 limit equates to the amount retirees now have to keep in the bank? We can't use that amount for a medical emergency any more so have they suggested coverage based on this unspendable sum?I am awaiting the announcement that the insurance requirement will be waived on the basis that an extra 400k is kept in the bank, basically meaning the 800,000 baht requirement cannot now ever be touched....unless you buy health insurance.

 

My comments on the limits are that they are too low. Most people here should be able to come up with 400,000 baht in an emergency but it is surely the high amounts that would be the problem. I wouldn't give a policty with such low limits the time of day!

 

And as for the outpatient requirement, this is pathetic. 40k is nothing, yet this would be a major contributing element of the premium, especially with such low limits. And look at some of the policies on offer: Viryah have a daily limit of 1400 baht, Thaivivat 2000 baht and Navakij 3000 baht. This is loose change. I have OPD cover but I tend not to bother with small items, preferring to protect my 10% no-claims-discount. How many incidents are there of farangs "doing a runner" from the local hospital without paying for a pee test? And how many will, like me, buy nsurance but just pay the OPD bill as they can't be bothered hanging around to wait for insurers' approval?

 

I'm not totally against the concept but in this particular guise it seems to be a money spinner for a select few insurance companies.

 

 

 

[utalkin2me]

I wonder what they will do if you have insurance in your own country but it does not apply internationally. 

 

I suppose they would make you get insurance. 

[rabas]

2 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

I, like many expats I meet here from western countries, have moved to Thailand and other countries because we cannot afford to live or live a comfortable middle-class retirement in our own countries. That is the real result of 30-40 years of the economic squeeze on the working middle-class. 

Squeeze, as in a 4 trillion US$ per year health care industry for the US alone.

[sumrit]

 

 

1

8 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

It says "renew visa". Since a visa cannot be renewed one assumes what is meant is extension of stay. 

 

Though technically incorrect, it is not unusual for people to refer to extensions of stay as visa extension or visa renewal.

That's the problem on Thai Visa.............too many posters make assumptions????

[mania]

12 minutes ago, 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.

Their thinking may be the under 50's are on work permits with employer provided health care

 

But if not I would not expect them to be ignored for long...meaning ED visa etc

[smedly]

11 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

I do not see the words extension of stay mentioned anywhere in the lead article.

correct - an O-A Retirement Visa can be "extended" by a year by crossing a border

 

an extension of stay is completely different and has its own set of financial rules in country - people need to calm down and stop reading stuff that isn't there and is unrelated to this announcement 

[wwest5829]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

NO

 

Those that think it does are flat wrong....

Correct. Closest US territory would be Guam when I checked.