Mandatory health insurance due for long stay tourists

[webfact]

UPDATE

Mandatory health insurance due for long stay tourists 

By The Nation

 

File photo/Credit: Tourism Authority of Thailand

 

Deputy Minister of Public Health Satit Pitutecha said Wednesday (October 9) that the Thai government's long-implemented medical policy for tourists had led to a rise in foreigners seeking medical treatments in the country. 

 

 

The Cabinet approved in April a requirement for tourists to be covered by health insurance. The mandatory measure will come into effect on October 31 and the government is now ready to provide the service, he said.

 

It will be applied to immigrants applying for Non-Immigrant Visa “O-A” , who will stay in the country for no more than one year.

 

The pilot project will also be applied to elderly tourists seeking a longer stay in the country, but no more than a year, he said.

 

Currently, there are about 80,950 tourists seeking long stay in Thailand and the number is expected to increase. 

 

Satit said elderly foreigners can acquire insurance coverage from both domestic and international firms, or via www.longstay.tgia.org.

 

The insured amount for out-patients is set at a minimum of Bt40,000 each, which would rise to at least Bt400,000 each for in-patients.

 

Should they purchase insurance coverage from international insurance companies, the sum insured must not be less than the minimum amounts required in Thailand, he said.

 

Satit said 14 private insurance companies in Thailand had joined the project. 

 

The ministry's Department of Health Service Support will create information and application websites, linked to other organisations' in order to provide a one-stop service for tourists. 

 

The department will provide all relevant information on line, such as terms, conditions, qualifications, and the benefits of health insurance.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30377292

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-10-11

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[Thaiwrath]

15 minutes ago, webfact said:

It will be applied to immigrants applying for Non-Immigrant Visa “O-A” , who will stay in the country for no more than one year.

The pilot project will also be applied to elderly tourists seeking a longer stay in the country, but no more than a year, he said.

 

Hopefully, this will avoid numerous scaremongering, nonsensical posts as in the other threads about the insurance

[dimitriv]

Probably it will be for everybody over 50.

 

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2019/10/10/foreigners-insurance-visa-requirements-over-50s-thai-deputy-public-health-minister-sathit-pitutecha/

 

The minister’s comments suggested that the insurance requirement for non-immigrant visas was being extended now to include all foreigners over 50 whereas previously it was understood from briefings by immigration bureau officials that the new provision only applied to retirees in Thailand.

 

 

[Samui Bodoh]

Once again a story announcing the policy, but lacking concrete, specific detail.

 

And with only a few weeks until implementation...

 

it would be nice to see a clear-cut explanation of precisely how the policy will be implemented, where/when the insurance will be checked, what are the details for using the O-A visa for longer than one year, etc.

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The ministry's Department of Health Service Support will create information and application websites, linked to other organisations' in order to provide a one-stop service for tourists. 

 

The department will provide all relevant information on line, such as terms, conditions, qualifications, and the benefits of health insurance.

 

Great!

 

When will these sites be operational exactly? The day before it comes into effect?

 

I have no problem with requiring tourists/long-stayers requiring insurance; it is simply a good idea. However, it needs to be easy, effective and clear. It is none of those things yet.

 

 

[moogradod]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The pilot project will also be applied to elderly tourists seeking a longer stay in the country, but no more than a year, he said.

Do they mean by that somebody holding a Thai Elite Visa and being over 50 ? The "but no more than a year" is confusing. Concrete question: Is this supposed to be valid somehow for anybody more than 50 years old holding already a PE Visa 5, 10 or 20 year who stays in the country right now ?

[Knocker33]

Thailand insurance companies had joined the project. Now there's a surprise 

[tjinks]

What about Non-imm O based on marriage?

[TeaMonkey]

So confusing. Apart from the Elite visa the maximum you can apply for is 1 year so this seems to include any type of visa. 

[moojar]

2 hours ago, moogradod said:

Do they mean by that somebody holding a Thai Elite Visa and being over 50 ? The "but no more than a year" is confusing. Concrete question: Is this supposed to be valid somehow for anybody more than 50 years old holding already a PE Visa 5, 10 or 20 year who stays in the country right now ?

I cannot imagine health insurance not being required for extensions of stay, otherwise what is the point?  Requiring insurance for only the first year of a long-term stay is just mind-blowingly illogical, even by the standards we all know and love. 

 

I guess we'll find out as reports start trickling in of extensions from November on though.     

  

[ross163103]

3 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Hopefully, this will avoid numerous scaremongering, nonsensical posts

Based on history in this forum.........good luck with that.

[legend49]

Currently, there are about 80,950 tourists seeking long stay in Thailand and the number is expected to increase

 

How can you expect an increase when new requirements and costs that affect the tourist is unreasonable? DHs!

[madmitch]

4 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Hopefully, this will avoid numerous scaremongering, nonsensical posts as in the other threads about the insurance

You are joking, aren't you? This has only confused things more!

[verticalift]

For those looking for coverage from insurance providers with offices in T’land, make sure that you read the fine print first. I was looking into this several months ago and found that they will only cover you up to age 70yrs. After 70, they will not cover you. Not very good for those of us in our 60’s. I recently switched from BUPA Global (UK), over to CIGNA in Dubai for my global coverage.

Int’l health care providers with offices outside T’land, unlike their Thai counterparts, will not kick you out at age 70.

[justin case]

people who stay here less than a year need to buy insurance they probably got included / covered if you come from a western country...

 

but people who stay here many years don't need it

 

THAI LOGIC

[FinChin67]

English is not my first language but every time they come with something like this they can be so unclear what they really mean. It does not matter if it concerns visa or now insurance but its never written in a way that I could understand.. Luckily, I do not need to care as I decided to live now in Malaysia but it really does not help Thailand to come with new unclear demands all the time..

 

Yes, asking for tourists and residents to have a valid insurance is not a bad thing at all but should be clear about it. Not really that difficult..

[justin case]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Great!

 

When will these sites be operational exactly? The day before it comes into effect?

 

I have no problem with requiring tourists/long-stayers requiring insurance; it is simply a good idea. However, it needs to be easy, effective and clear. It is none of those things yet.

they will probably be mostly in THAI

 

you know, tourist just have to learn thai if they want to read it 

[Guest]

Provide insurance for existing conditions ... or just go away ... seriously ... why not just say ... "there is a new 20,000 THB fee to live in Thailand, because giving money to an insurance company who will not pay the bill ... is pure folly.

[Mitkof Island]

4 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Hopefully, this will avoid numerous scaremongering, nonsensical posts as in the other threads about the insurance

And certain YT channels that continue to use this issue and other immigration laws to stir up the <deleted> to gain views. Thankfully many understand these channels are all about drama and deal nothing with the truth. The same goes for certain posters here that seem determined to bash everything about Thailand.

[RBOP]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Satit said 14 private insurance companies in Thailand had joined the project.

How can we get the shareholder lists of these companies? I'd like to know how many Cabinet, Ministers and other Government are in cahoots.  Premiums are outrageous. 

 

Read the fine print. You have to have a a full physical to apply for the insurance. So there will be many exclusions making the policy useless. Why cant people self-insure? Or is that coming. 

  

[Mitkof Island]

13 minutes ago, bangkokequity said:

Provide insurance for existing conditions ... or just go away ... seriously ... why not just say ... "there is a new 20,000 THB fee to live in Thailand, because giving money to an insurance company who will not pay the bill ... is pure folly.

I do agree with you about insurance companies. They will do everything they can to avoid paying the bills. I prefer just to pay by myself.

[Dukeleto]

Where or how exactly are they going to check or verify that you have one. I can just see I’ll have to carry a verified copy of one around with me everywhere I go. So I’ll add that to a copy of my bikes green book, copy of my passport. I hope Honda will come up with a bigger storage space under my seat so there is space for my helmet!

[maxisrael]

19 minutes ago, verticalift said:

For those looking for coverage from insurance providers with offices in T’land, make sure that you read the fine print first. I was looking into this several months ago and found that they will only cover you up to age 70yrs. After 70, they will not cover you. Not very good for those of us in our 60’s. I recently switched from BUPA Global (UK), over to CIGNA in Dubai for my global coverage.

Int’l health care providers with offices outside T’land, unlike their Thai counterparts, will not kick you out at age 70.

I'm 74 and still covered and accepted by Aetna former Bupa. 

[Mitkof Island]

1 minute ago, RBOP said:

How can we get the shareholder lists of these companies? I'd like to know how many Cabinet, Ministers and other Government are in cahoots.  Premiums are outrageous. 

 

Read the fine print. You have to have a a full physical to apply for the insurance. So there will be many exclusions making the policy useless. Why cant people self-insure? Or is that coming. 

  

I will self insure thank you very much before i hand my money over to weasels.

[Fore Man]

There are a great number of US military retirees who chose Thailand as their home, most of whom are supporting Thai families. These retired members and their enrolled family members are all fully eligible to receive medical benefits under the Defense Tricare Program.  Family members are required to be registered on the US Department of Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), which can conveniently be done with a visit to the nearest DEERS office located at the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group Thailand in Bangkok.  Tricare provides its beneficiaries with extremely comprehensive coverage for both outpatient and inpatient care.    Beneficiaries pay 25% of all costs until an annual catastrophic cap of $3,000 is reached...per each enrolled family.  Once that $3,000 (roughly THB 91,500 today) family cap is reached each year, there are no further costs incurred. In practical terms, this means that significant surgical procedures, hospital stays and rehabilitative costs are 100% covered for most beneficiary families because they generally run close to the annual spending cap anyway in their routine outpatient care. I sincerely hope that the US Embassy will spell out in explicit terms the excellent benefits of Tricare to their Thai Government counterparts and that our retired servicemen living in the kingdom will not be doubly penalized by being forced to buy totally unneeded additional commercial coverage. 

[chrisinth]

50 minutes ago, TeaMonkey said:

So confusing. Apart from the Elite visa the maximum you can apply for is 1 year so this seems to include any type of visa. 

Even with the Elite visa do you not have to get your passport stamped every year? Even though the visa is valid for 5+ years, I think the permission to stay is still only valid for 1 year.

[Momofarang]

So, when will this so called Ministry of health open a service where expats with existing health cover can get a Thai certification of their insurances?

Isn't there some other minister who did 4 years in the slammer in Oz?

[TeaMonkey]

12 minutes ago, chrisinth said:

Even with the Elite visa do you not have to get your passport stamped every year? Even though the visa is valid for 5+ years, I think the permission to stay is still only valid for 1 year.

 

Yes, just checked and you're right. I don't think there are any visas that allow more than one year of stay.

[Momofarang]

5 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Hopefully, this will avoid numerous scaremongering, nonsensical posts as in the other threads about the insurance

You are just utterly naive, "no more than a year" simply means "all Non-OA and yearly extensions of stay". Ministry of health speaking they don't know the proper wording for immigration (fecal, more and more) matters.

[TeaMonkey]

5 minutes ago, Momofarang said:

So, when will this so called Ministry of health open a service where expats with existing health cover can get a Thai certification of their insurances?

Isn't there some other minister who did 4 years in the slammer in Oz?

 

Good luck with getting your foreign insurance company to certify that it meets the Thai legal requirements and gets signed by two directors.

http://longstay.tgia.org/document/overseas_insurance_certificate.pdf

[glennb6]

So now, a few days back I read that health insurance was to be manditory for new O-A visa applicants over 50 yrs of age. Not a very clear explanation for an official announcement, but I'm now extending my O-A visa, not applying for a new one, so I passed on the details.

 

Today I read that the plans are "updated" to include ALL over 50 O-A visas, new and extensions, and again with less than clear guidelines. I will only speak for myself because that's the only person I am an expert in knowing.

 

Seems I am considered first, a long stay TOURIST. I thought I was a long term Non-immigrant? Something about being deemed a temporary tourist bothers me both from the perspective of being considered temporary by the authorities, and from the point of security of lifestyle. The later in that I am retired here, intend to live here until I die, and if that makes me a "non-immigrant" fine, but a temporary tourist?? Maybe tourists will be limited to X number of months one of these days at the whims of, well...

 

I am very INSULTED to be called "high risk" because I am over 50 yrs old. Hey, we all die some day but some people are healthier than others regardless of age. Some people live a healthier life style than others, regardless of age. I do know age discrimination when it's typed in print in my face by the host government!

 

Me, knock on my wooden head, I am healthy, never needed a hospital or a doctor in countless years. I'm not fat/overweight. I eat healthy, I exercise regularly and am in better shape than most 30-40 yr olds. I don't smoke, I rarely drink alcohol, I am in a monogamous relationship with my GF, and my stress levels are near zero. Sound pretty good and low risk to me.

 

I rarely ride public transportation, which seem to overturn, have brake failures, and driver brain failures resulting in crashes thus ranking Thailand rather high on road fatalities and injuries. I drive an older Toyota pickup and a whimpy Honda Wave motorcycle. I have Thai driver licenses and extra insurance on the pickup truck. I drive safely, sober, and on the lookout. Anyone who has ever been here and especially who live here knows how bad the driving is.

 

Tourists who rent larger motorcycles and blast around drunk. Locals who believe Buddha will protect them and don't bother looking who they drive in front of or on which side of the road they drive. Half the population who rides motorcycles sans helmets, and frequently three plus people on two seat motorcycles...yea. Many locals don't have driver licenses, carry insufficient insurance if any, and apparently frequently run from the scene of accidents (according to the daily news reports)...yea, who is it that is 'high risk'???

 

Police? Apparently they are there at the occasional roadblock to check helmets, license, and other minor stuff. Many people remember the recent news report with pictures of three young boys stopped at a roadblock, one wearing a metal pot on his head, and the police standing around chuckling how funny that was. Too young for licenses, no helmets, insurance? Driving skills?  Say no more.

 

I stress the road safety issues because driving is high risk here, but hey, because I'm an over 50 non-Thai, I am considered high risk. Essh.

 

So, I checked the premium rates for the stated minimum required insurance of 400k in patient and 40k outpatient coverage and surprise surprise surprise... 81,746 baht per year for 61-67yr olds. Seems a bit high for very minimal coverage, especially when the government has recently and officially condoned public hospitals to charge "whatever they feel like" for foreigners.

 

My current coverage with same company is 780k inpatient, zero outpatient. If I am injured and require outpatient care I will pay out of pocket. As my visa requirement is that I must have 800k in Thai banks, I think I can cover the 40k baht minimum.

 

My current coverage including discounts for no outpatient coverage, a deductible, and not having used the insurance (now in 2.5yrs since I started) is 19,238 baht per year.

 

So for lesser coverage the government is expecting me to pay an additional 62,508 baht every year!?? Expecting me to be OK with insurance that provides me with lesser coverage but costs 425% more than what I voluntarily buy now!??!!

 

At the very best and kindest, this is full on incompetence and disregard, and at worst it smells like government corruption, collusion with the insurance business, graft, and theft from a small segment of the non-resident population that is expected to say nothing as they are not Thai and just pay, just pay.

 

I don't like (but knew and agreed to before retiring here) having to keep 800k baht in Thai banks on a permanent bases. Didn't really care for the 2 months prior and 3 months after extension requirements because it sounds like the government assumes I'm trying to cheat the system with an agent (I am not). I don't travel in country much at all so the TM30 tracking doesn't affect me, but it seems childish and ineffectual if really intended to track criminals. I grin and report myself in to immigration every 90 days even though it makes me feel like a parolee, but at least the process is quick.

 

Now, the government says I will be required to pay an additional $2050 USD for their approved insurance scheme. I am not a big spender like the 2 week millionaire tourists or rich Thais, but my spending is a 100% positive income for the country, not to mention the 800k baht stuck in the bank. It costs Thailand ZERO, NOTHING to have me here, and I expected to live this way for another 20 to 30 years.

 

This mandatory insurance scam is insulting, way over the top costly, and provides significant mistrust in what the government may come up with next for me trying to live here.  Of all the policies and rules, this is one that may well push me to look elsewhere to live in retirement.

 

This rant is mostly "preaching to the choir" but maybe it will be read by some Thais, may some Thail government officials.