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

[jollyhangmon]

25 minutes ago, zydeco said:

Just looking at his picture from an earlier TVF topic: They should get Linda Hunt to play his role in the movie.  https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1091985-public-hospitals-get-training-to-recover-payments-from-foreigners/

 

 

That's him? That's What-a-nut?

Jesses, just spare me them cute little ankle biters ... holding any shares in insurance corps by chance ...!?

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by jollyhangmon

[Expat Tom]

I have had Thai health insurance for several years. It seem to be a reasonable thing to do no matter where you live. What's the problem? I wish tham my country (USA) would enact similar rules.

Of course there is the larger issue....give a Thai a government office and a rubber stamp and a new rule or regulation will soon follow.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

15 minutes ago, EL159 said:

Theres supposed to be a list of "recommended insurers" about six on there but does not include AETNA, but then again, "recommended" is not "statutory" I guess?

 

The proposal for O-A visa holders would allow insurance from ANY insurer as long as it meets the coverage requirements...

 

The existing RULE for O-X visa holders that's been in effect the past couple years REQUIRES insurance ONLY from the list of insurers on that govt-sponsored webpage.

 

Different visas... Different rules, proposed and existing....

 

I think the restriction on only allowing insurance from the half dozen or so providers listed on the LongStay website is ONE of the reasons that the O-X visa program has been so little used.... And that's perhaps why the govt. structured the rules for the O-X program that way, since they wanted to advertise they were offering 5 year visa....but in reality, probably didn't actually want to be issuing them to us unwashed foreigners.

 

[Expattaff1308]

12 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, the Hospitals have said as much. An Expat cannot skip off anywhere other than home, A tourist is out of the country before they have realised he's gone!

[fullcave]

Available at your local immigration office. ????????????

[Mavideol]

14 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?

not only westerners, that includes burma, laos, india, cambodia, chinese, malay and maybe some indonesia

[Guderian]

Jeez, the numbers quoted in the Nation article are so ludicrously wrong that it's not even worth commenting on. Total garbage.

[zydeco]

A few years ago, an American expat I know died in the hospital. He had fallen and broken his hip.  Was scheduled for surgery but had a heart attack and died before surgery could take place. The hospital held the body for ransom until the Thai family could come up with somewhere around 450,000 I believe it was. So even if you die, you aren't going to be able to dodge Thai hospital billing. I do not believe that long term "elderly" expats are anywhere near a problem with not paying their bills to hospitals.  If for only one reason only: they live here and probably realize they will need to make several return trips sooner or later to the same or other hospitals, at which time they would be nabbed or denied service had they not paid earlier.

[jesimps]

3 hours ago, Mitkof Island said:

Really ? Since when?

Probably the reaction of officer Somchai in Nakon Nowhere as he prepares to refuse your extension (unless of course you can make a noise like lots of the crinkly stuff).

[xylophone]

33 minutes ago, ianezy0 said:

I read it as the new OA applicants and those who will be renewing the visa. No mention of extension of stay....of course I could be totally confused ???? 

Not so sure, see this from the Phuket News..............It includes those applying to "renew" their one year permits to stay. Surely this refers to the retirement extensions we renew every year?

 

“The insurance policy must provide up to B40,000 coverage for outpatient treatment and up to B400,000 for inpatient treatment during their stay in the Kingdom of Thailand,” Dr Nutthawut said.

 

The requirement applies to all new applicants for one-year non-immigrant O-A visas, and for those applying to “renew” their one-year permits-to-stay, he said.

www.thephuketnews.com/cabinet-approves-mandatory-health-insurance-for-long-stay-visas-71424.php#kimf7zlHsmOva8Uu.97  

 

[bbbbooboo]

..... hmmmm.... maths has never been one of Thailand’s strong points?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

16 minutes ago, zydeco said:

A few years ago, an American expat I know died in the hospital. He had fallen and broken his hip.  Was scheduled for surgery but had a heart attack and died before surgery could take place. The hospital held the body for ransom until the Thai family could come up with somewhere around 450,000 I believe it was. 

 

Was that a government or private hospital involved in that episode?

[zydeco]

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Was that a government or private hospital involved in that episode?

Private

[Kwasaki]

49 minutes ago, oneton said:

Many over 50's will have exclusions from insurance companies if they are honest about existing medical conditions. It may well be these conditions that they are hospitalized for. They will not be covered for these conditions. In this case making the scheme somewhat pointless.

Better they have the money in a secured account of some sort. (Which has been mentioned by MOPH, but no details so far)

Right !!  There's other things too apart from pre-existing health exclusions, my insurance can refuse to pay if I get admitted being over the alcohol limit. 

[malibukid]

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

All vehicles have compulsory 3rd party person insurance, PorLor Bor insurance paid when you get the annual sticker. This insurance pays out no matter what even if driver has no license, drunk etc. Your home country would have a similar compulsory coverage, in Australia for example its called CTP insurance.

I get your point though, a big accident above what the insurance pays probably does account for some of the unpaid.

we have it in L.A. it's called Mexican Insurance, or uninsured motorist, mandatory

Edited May 16, 2019 by malibukid

[bikerbri]

40,000 Baht for out patent cover 400,000 Baht for inpatient cover. Total 440,000 Baht. Money on deposit at a Thai Bank for a retirement extension 800,000 Baht. Why would I need medical insurance? I already have it. I always thought the money on deposit was to guarantee medical expenses? 

[GeorgeCross]

15 minutes ago, bbbbooboo said:

..... hmmmm.... maths has never been one of Thailand’s strong points?

 

yeah anyone who's witnessed a local mom & pop pull out a calculator to add up 2 leo's at 60 baht each can attest to that

[micmichd]

44 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Someone here like @NancyL might be able to explain better on this topic... But my guess is, at least some of these kinds of situations involve ones where the patient comes in unconscious or seriously injured, doesn't have any immediate family available, probably most often as a tourist (not O-A visa holder). And the govt. hospital has to treat them, can't just turn them away to die unattended.... And so then is in a position of trying to get their expenses back from family members abroad, etc etc....

 

My guess is, the vast majority of this problem is related to short-time tourist visitors, and not long-time resident O-A visa holders, who unlike other foreign visitor groups here, have to be able to afford to travel back to their home country to get a new O-A every year or two, and when they apply, have to show 800K in the bank or 65K in monthly income just in order to qualify for the O-A visa...  O-A visa holders generally speaking are NOT going to be the destitute ones.

 

Those short-time tourists are a completely different category. They should have travel health insurances. In cases of unconsciousness the right to make claims against the insurance company should be automatically transferred to the Thai hospital. 

Not to be confused with foreign long-time pensioners. According to CIA Factbook there are only some 200,000 pensioners from Europe in Thailand. And only these could be the possible target group. 

[ThaiPauly]

1 hour ago, EL159 said:

Theres supposed to be a list of "recommended insurers" about six on there but does not include AETNA, but then again, "recommended" is not "statutory" I guess?

Are you talking about the list that was provided by the Thai Healthcare system buddy?

There was about six on there to begin with, I think AXA was the only foreign one, but I am sure I have read that international policies will be acceptable.....well at least I hope that's the case as the ones they have recommended are very very poor value for money, the worst one being 100,000 for 400,000 baht's worth of cover....laughable, then I can just imagine the hospital reps talking to their Thai counterparts and cooking up a plan so they don't have to pay anything

[steve73]

I'm sure this has already been commented on... but there were NOT 38 million here on O-A visa's last year.. 

 

Perhaps 38 million total visitor arrivals (many of who would have been repeat visitors).

 

So are they saying that EVERY visitor needs this insurance.  Buy it at the arrivals hall.

 

500bt to the I/O official perhaps...? - Actually just 10 bt per visitor would cover the 300 MM bt shortfall..

 

I'm not sure whether it' the reporting that's totally f....d up, or whether it's the whole country...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, micmichd said:

Those short-time tourists are a completely different category. They should have travel health insurances. In cases of unconsciousness the right to make claims against the insurance company should be automatically transferred to the Thai hospital. 

Not to be confused with foreign long-time pensioners. According to CIA Factbook there are only some 200,000 pensioners from Europe in Thailand. And only these could be the possible target group. 

 

There's no proposal in the current scheme from the Thai govt. to require anything about medical insurance coverage for regular tourists...  Because obviously, instituting such a requirement for tourists would probably cause their precious annual visitor numbers to fall!  The same folks right now who can't or don't want to pay tourist visa or visa on arrival application fees.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

yeah anyone who's witnessed a local mom & pop pull out a calculator to add up 2 leo's at 60 baht each can attest to that

 I have!!!!   

 

It wasn't Leo's...but close enough! 

[Destiny1990]

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

All vehicles have compulsory 3rd party person insurance, PorLor Bor insurance paid when you get the annual sticker. This insurance pays out no matter what even if driver has no license, drunk etc. Your home country would have a similar compulsory coverage, in Australia for example its called CTP insurance.

I get your point though, a big accident above what the insurance pays probably does account for some of the unpaid.

How about a tourist getting stabbed while robbed..He gets admitted hospital then who is responsible that bill?

[steve73]

2 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

How about a tourist getting stabbed while robbed..He gets admitted hospital then who is responsible that bill?

What about all those Chinese on the Phoenix... or was that OK because they all drowned so there were no medical bills...?

[CharlieH]

2 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

How about a tourist getting stabbed while robbed..He gets admitted hospital then who is responsible that bill?

I would think that no matter who is responsible or the reason for being there, the patient receiving the treatment is ultimately responsible for the bill. It is up to them who/if they later claim it back from. (IMHO)

[pookiki]

This issue was reported much differently in the Phuket News.  Just 'google' 'unpaid medical bills in Thailand' to find the story. The Nation incorrectly used the statistics in their reporting.  However, what must be stressed is that the statistics are not broken down to show the portion of unpaid medical bills attributable to those retirees on O-A visas. MOPH is using a red herring to unfairly target the expat retiree community in Thailand.  Very sad.

[zydeco]

5 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

I would think that no matter who is responsible or the reason for being there, the patient receiving the treatment is ultimately responsible for the bill. It is up to them who/if they later claim it back from. (IMHO)

Mainly non-Thais blown to bits at the 2015 Erawan Shrine bombing. Didn't government step in, then? They should when they failed to protect tourists and visitors--and that goes for lax enforcement of laws and regulations pertaining to roads and vehicles.

[bristolgeoff]

my friends in cm retired lived many years there.they rent their house back in uk.the money goes into a bank acc for this reason.when they go to chiang mai ram they pay with that money always.what will happen now ,they say it is cheaper than insurance.i will see what happens when they renew the visa

Edited May 16, 2019 by bristolgeoff

[d4291797]

well that is simply wonderful 
 
Remember to deposit Bt800k in a Thai bank and keep Bt400k of it on deposit 12 months a year ????

I can’t believe just how short sighted some people are!

Just how sustainable do you perceive health insurance for a retired person is!

Frankly just look long term, and park the 440k in the bank on 2% interest, sorted!

Unless you don’t expect to live beyond 65!

Insurance is a total crock, because it also won’t cover pre existing conditions!

So it is a Clayton’s insurance!


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[sunnyboy2018]

I have bupa international insurance. how do I prove it?