Advice on Health Insurance Please

[Indya]

I'm looking for some advice on health insurance please. I have had a few health issues recently and have spent a lot of money, so I badly need to get myself well insured. I think I will need outpatient included as I know there are several procedures I need which are very costly and can be done on an outpatient basis. I am worried that the more I pay myself and build up records here, once I do have insurance, things will be written off as pre-existing conditions, so I am putting things off. Despite my research, I read very conflicting things about health insurance here. I had a fantastic policy in Vietnam which covered almost everything, no questions asked for around $700 per year. This insurance does not seem to exist here. I realise I will have to pay more here, but cannot continue without it. I am female, mid thirties with no major pre-existing conditions and would like to keep it that way! Many thanks in advance for advice.

[Puchaiyank]

Most health insurance companies I have contacted require a doctors physical with lab work...paid 9,000 baht to Bangkok hospital to record my physical...was blindsided by young Thai doctor who asked a lot of personal questions before he filled out the document...

 

The doctor stated diseases that had never been diagnosed by American doctors...obesity (6' 210 lbs)...asthma because I keep an inhaler because of allergies to air pollution and so on...

 

Decent Insurance denied...then company offered me much less coverage at a higher price..

 

There is one company that will insure me...but will never pay any claim on a pre-existing conditions...ever!

 

BTW...cost of lousy healthcare insurance for me averages 90000 baht per year...

 

So...still without insurance...

 

Good Luck!

Edited June 4, 2019 by Puchaiyank

[essox essox]

it is a minefield out there for health Insurance.....I had it with Muang Thai .....they refused to pay out....but did refund my premium whch was the same ammount as what I was going to claim anyway

[Sheryl]

Please disregard prior posters. Unless you are over 65 most insurers do not require a physical (and even then not all do) and reputable policies pay out per contract.

What insurance did you have in Viet Nam? Unless it was a lical VN company, quite possible you can continue it here.

That said, there is no such things as a "no questions asked" policy. Most of the time, with most good policies, there will be no questions (other than routine ones asked of all hospitals as part of the claims process) asked, but any insurer can and will ask questions if a claim looks suspicious. For example, a claim in first year or two of a policy for a condition which by its nature takes years to develop but which you did not declare at enrollment is sure to raise red flags.

The same expat policies will cover you in Thailand as anywhere else. I have yet to see an expat policy that excludes Thailand. For some reason many people insist on limiting themselves to local Thai insurance companies which usually do mainly life/car insurance etc, , have limited expertise in health insurance and are, shall we say, not very professional.

You should go through a broker, not only will they help you select a policy but they will also help with claims etc afterward. I use AA brokers and very happy with them. www.aainsure.net

Including outpt cover will substantially increase premiums, usually by more than it is worth. Hospitalization only policies will usually cover day surgeries and proceduries like endoscopy etc. The better policies also cover outpt cancer treatment and dialysis. You do not need to get outpt coverage to have these sorts of things included.

That said, any procedure you already know you are going to need would almost surely be excluded on grounds of a pre existing condition.


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[Flow]

You can get insurance if you do have pre-existing conditions, with loading though (a bit of extra cash) but not with local campaniles or companies underwritten by Thai companies. Avoid those. Go for CIGNA or similar foreign based companies. They'll take you.