Mandatory health insurance for non-immigrant O-A retirement visa holders likely to take effect in July

[quandow]

I'm just DYING (<--- see what I did there?) to see how they will enforce this.

????

[ryane66]

I am quite sure that the problem of unpaid hospital bills is from tourists not long stay visa holders. If these officials had the ability to think and come up with a logical solution there would be no problem. All they need to do is add a small hospital tax to every international ticket. 100 baht and 38 million visitors and they would have 10 times more than their purported losses.

[Scott]

Troll post removed.

 

[lamyai3]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

2018

Non-immigrant (O-A) visa holders: 38 million 

Number of medical visits by them: 3.42 million

Number of unpaid medical bills: 680,000

Number of long-stay expats seeking medical services: 80,950

Outstanding debt: Bt305 million

38 million Non O/A holders - that means 55% of the entire 69 million population of Thailand consists of those who hobbled into the country on Non O/A visas last year.

 

Shurely shome mishtake with the shtatishtics, offisher! 

 

 

[jollyhangmon]

26 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

38 million Non O/A holders - that means 55% of the entire 69 million population of Thailand consists of those who hobbled into the country on Non O/A visas last year.

 

Shurely shome mishtake with the shtatishtics, offisher! 

 

 

 

... lol - yeah, it's downright ridiculous what piles of bs they're spouting out when the day is long ...

 Not to mention the 'type' of coverage on certain media, guerilla-polling and insurance-hawking we are subjected to.

'Mishtake' doesn't even begin to describe it ... 

 

 

[tingtongtourist]

2 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

I'm certain that we'll soon have to pay a "breathing thin air" tax.

dont you mean " breathing polluted air" tax.

if this is true its nail in coffin

[the guest]

It's very simple ... all tourists if they apply for VOA, include a mandatory fee for insurance to be paid on arrival. For long stayers, they must provide proof of insurance before visa is approved. Solution is easy !

[sfokevin]

I’m sorry but I really have to question the OPs “journalistic” integrity when in the middle of the article he places a bait & switch Adlink to try to sell you health insurance!...

 

[arithai12]

And could we please see how many millions of Baht the hospitals are making by overcharging medication? And by inflating medical bills when they learn that you have a private insurance?

[wisperone]

If someone rents a apartment from me and I want them out, the best way to do it is to keep raising the rent until they decide to leave on their own. In the meantime, I collect more until they are gone.

 

Well Farangs are the tenants, and the junta is the landlord.  All costs to reside here are increasing steadily. The ones who can afford it will bend over and take it.  The ones who can't will eventually leave when they can no longer afford it. In the meantime, big bonuses for the junta and their cronies. Be prepared to dig deeper into your piggy banks.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 hours ago, pookiki said:

Yes, that's the first think I noticed.  Maybe 380,000 at the most.  Thirty-eight million would be over half of Thailand's current population!

 

Whoever put the statistics together at the bottom of the OP article talking about 32, 35, 38 million supposed O-A visa holders in Thailand must have been smoking crack!!!  Or, maybe they've been doing a bit too much medical marijuana research.... 

 

There aren't 32 million or even 3.2 million O-A visa holders in Thailand. And there probably aren't even that number if you include all the retirement extensions along with the O-A visa holders.

 

A 30+ million number is actually in the range of the TOTAL number of foreign tourist visitors to Thailand annually, AFAIK.

 

And yet the OP article attributes the stats to the government's Department of Health Services Support?  Are these the geniuses coming up with the new insurance policy. Can anything they say be believed?

 

And the author of the article didn't wonder how the chart's reported numbers of foreign 0-A visa holders could possibly be equal to about half the entire population of Thailand.... according to those same stats....   

 

[daveAustin]

That'll teach ya for double charging. 

 

[daveAustin]

"According to Saowapa, this requirement is necessary because medical treatments provided  to many elderly long-time foreign residents have weighed heavily on the state coffers"

 

... and just how much did foreign residents put into said coffers again?

 

Anyway, this is all just a smokescreen for the weeding out of the unsavouries. While I might agree with cleaning the place up; careful what you wish for, Muang Thai. You might wake up one day and wonder where it all went wrong.

[AYJAYDEE]

9 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

"According to Saowapa, this requirement is necessary because medical treatments provided  to many elderly long-time foreign residents have weighed heavily on the state coffers"

 

... and just how much did foreign residents put into said coffers again?

 

Anyway, this is all just a smokescreen for the weeding out of the unsavouries. While I might agree with cleaning the place up; careful what you wish for, Muang Thai. You might wake up one day and wonder where it all went wrong.

what they put in pays for the services they receive. health care is an extra that has to be paid for.

 

[Tropposurfer]

7 hours ago, pmh2009 said:

yeah dem westerners on Youtube asking and begging for money for their medical bills!!! thanks a lot dudes!!!!!

Right on mate!

a bloody disgrace!

lousy tip rat thieving visitors stealing medical services and leaving the burden on the state and the people.

disgraceful!

 

[Hockeybik]

8 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

I struggle to understand all the figures given in this article ??

Mainly:

Surely that is fully incorrect. I would bet tens or hundreds thousands at max, no?

38 million is more than half the population of Thailand? Not possible. Someone needs a fact check. IF there are 38 million add 10 baht to every visa app and it more than pays for the unpaid med bills. Hell, add 100 baht no one will notice. 

[GeorgeCross]

22 minutes ago, Hockeybik said:

38 million is more than half the population of Thailand? Not possible. Someone needs a fact check. IF there are 38 million add 10 baht to every visa app and it more than pays for the unpaid med bills. Hell, add 100 baht no one will notice. 

 

by that logic might as well add 100,000.. oh wait..$%$#%##

[BuckBee]

6 hours ago, ryane66 said:

I am quite sure that the problem of unpaid hospital bills is from tourists not long stay visa holders. If these officials had the ability to think and come up with a logical solution there would be no problem. All they need to do is add a small hospital tax to every international ticket. 100 baht and 38 million visitors and they would have 10 times more than their purported losses.

exactly

and how many of these unpaid bills are down to disputes of poor professionalism from the hospitals .

From my years here I not seen many retired or long timers not paying bills, it more common from short stayers ...

Got love the numbers too, if over half the population are old farang that be funny lol ...

[Mango Bob]

Why is everyone making a big issue of this?   They want us to have insurance doesn't matter what they say here, and what cost they make up. you have to have it.  Why not talk about the type of policies available.

[GeorgeCross]

all of this over 300 MILLION baht! have they lost their marbles

 

i reckon when my family pull out of this country we'll take 10% of that with us at least. i wonder how many others are thinking the same.

 

and for the record i'm all up for insurance but i'll be damned if i'm paying 100K for 400K cover. 

 

catastrophic cancer cover is a different matter.

 

would have been better to break the 300M up over the total expats and pay that to a gov fund. would be about 1000 baht each. 

 

not this crap and not forcing it. idiots.

 

plan b activated.

[pookiki]

The statistics cited in the article are absurd!  In addition, the use of such misinformation is inflammatory and defamatory towards expat retirees in Thailand.  This will only serve to create ill-will towards the retired expat community in Thailand.

 

I would implore all the embassies in Thailand with retirees in Thailand to condemn the MOPH in issuing such erroneous information in support of their efforts to implement mandatory medical insurance for O-A visa holders and future applicants -and the issue as it applies to those retirees on extension of stay is still very murky.

 

To have this issue surface just a few days ago with an implementation date of 1 July only serves to create an atmosphere of panic and forces retirees to make decisions that will not be in their best interests.  

 

Since the decision of the US, UK, and Australia to cancel their affidavits/income verification, the Thai government has taken numerous steps that appear to indicate and unwillingness to accommodate and understand expat retirees in Thailand.  The issuance of the statistics in this news article must be questioned and the MOPH must recognize that the problems of unpaid medical bills is not a problem being caused by expat retirees in Thailand. 

[Thailand]

Sorry, it was my 14 year half blind partially deaf Shi Tzu again.

He was consulted about the figures but was having one of his doggy dementure attacks and cocked it up.

[holy cow cm]

5 hours ago, the guest said:

It's very simple ... all tourists if they apply for VOA, include a mandatory fee for insurance to be paid on arrival. For long stayers, they must provide proof of insurance before visa is approved. Solution is easy !

I think you just hit the OA on the head with a V. Now VOA makes better sense for numbers, but if that's the case then why are they or would be attacking retirees on OA? Hatred?

[rodney earl]

Just another reason why I am so glad that I have left thailand and now back in my home country where all of my medical expenses are covered by the government.!!!

[graemeaylward]

I'm certain that we'll soon have to pay a "breathing thin air" tax.

Never be implemented due to the thick air of pollution!


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[KhaoYai]

5 hours ago, the guest said:

It's very simple ... all tourists if they apply for VOA, include a mandatory fee for insurance to be paid on arrival. For long stayers, they must provide proof of insurance before visa is approved. Solution is easy !

Don't be silly, they can't be upsetting those cash cows, sorry, tourists. Let's blame all the ex pats in Thailand for the millions of baht that it costs to treat tourists who've got involved in accidents/fights/drunken stupidity, been taken to hospital, then failed to pay.

 

All this non payment business is news to me, I don't see how its possible.  In 2011 I was involved in a serious accident, I was unconscious, losing a lot of blood and apparently was minutes away from 'shuffling off this mortal coil' - I needed blood fast. When I regained consciousness I learned that my ex M.I.L had to produce her credit card at St Louis Hospital, Sathorn before they would give me a transfusion! My ex wife was then sent out with my ATM card to obtain further funds which they wanted as a deposit before admitting me. I'd even been taken to hospital in the back of a passer by's pick up truck as the ambulance that turned up wanted details of my insurance company before they'd take me - quite how an unconscious man was supposed to produce his insurance, I know not.

 

2016, Bankgok Hospital, Korat wanted 20,000 baht deposit and proof of my ability to pay the balance before they would admit my ex Mrs for an 'emergency' operation.

 

How do people fail to pay?
 

[greg67]

14 minutes ago, rodney earl said:

Just another reason why I am so glad that I have left thailand and now back in my home country where all of my medical expenses are covered by the government.!!!

Ok.. Have a good day then....

[The Man Who Sold the World]

17 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

all of this over 300 MILLION baht! have they lost their marbles

Rhetorical question, eh?

 

When they use obviously "bogus" numbers - i.e. 38 million, hmm... lets do the math, 38M with a visa fee of USD $200 = USD $7,600,000,000 more than enough to cover the "unpaid" or should we refer to them as the "paid in advance" medical bills.

 

 

[holy cow cm]

If 300 old guys or gals over 50 had a massive heart attack and racked up a bill of 1 million, then that is 300 million. It could even be old timers on holiday here on VOA? But to give absurd numbers like that and make all over 50 long term stayers is a pure attack on the foreign people.

 

They could easily attach an additional fee of say 10,000 baht to the visa fee for the visa or extension and if easy numbers like this just say 100,000 O-A retirees here:  100,000 x 10,000 = 1000,000,000 baht for coverage to all the expats. Way and far above their little petty 300,000,000 baht. I would be more than happy to pay 10k every year to be semi covered..

 

It is apparent they are just part of the grab and gouging the foreigners over 50 on retirement visas and someone sees some deep pockets being filled. It would even be great if some kind Thai or foreigner with a Thai started a company like this that covers the foreigners. There would be many limitations as to not have it abused, but if direly needed it would pay.

 

 

[SheungWan]

9 hours ago, Mitkof Island said:

Agree the hospitals can send the bill to Thai Immigration and grab the foreigners to pay up or leave. Don,t punish everyone because of these losers.

Its not a punishment. Its going to be a requirement.