Cannot stay if you have a pre-existing medical condition. True, or false.

[AdamTheFarang]

Hi,

 

Is this true as per the video. If you have a pre-existing medical condition you will be denied cover for that condition and therefore have to leave Thailand? Are you exempt if you already have coverage for the condition by a non-Thai company? If so is it the same for all visas, even marriage? 

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by AdamTheFarang

[CNXexpat]

For a marriage visa you don´t need to show a health insurance to the immigration office. 

[Swiss1960]

false on so many levels

- first, not everybody needs health insurance, only people with OA Visa

- second, the health insurance might exclude pre-existing conditions (as does mine), but still I have insurance 

therefore, once again false rumours by people who probably want to scam others

[AdamTheFarang]

1 minute ago, Swiss1960 said:

false on so many levels

- first, not everybody needs health insurance, only people with OA Visa

- second, the health insurance might exclude pre-existing conditions (as does mine), but still I have insurance 

therefore, once again false rumours by people who probably want to scam others

Retirement is Non-O therefore has anything changed in regards to insurance? 

[Swiss1960]

11 minutes ago, AdamTheFarang said:

Retirement is Non-O therefore has anything changed in regards to insurance? 

not correct.. non-OA is the initial 1-year Visa that some people got, non-O was a 90d Visa. The retirement extension is then the same with the difference with regards to insurance. So if your initial Visa was non-O as opposed to non-OA, then nothing has changed for you with regards to insurance. I renewed in November and no questions about insurance

[ukrules]

12 minutes ago, AdamTheFarang said:

Retirement is Non-O therefore has anything changed in regards to insurance? 

Insurance is only required on the 'O-A' visa which is typically issued in your home country, it's the visa that people get without needing to deposit money into a Thai bank.

 

There is no requirement for insurance on the 'O' visa which is very different and does require money in the bank....

[Maestro]

@AdamTheFarang

 

The fact that when an insurance is required and you have a pre-existing condition and the policy you buy from one of the listed companies does not cover this condition and you have no other insurance cover for this condition does not mean that you have to leave Thailand.

 

It simply means that if you incur medical expenses for this pre-existing condition, you have to pay it out of your pocket.

[ukrules]

59 minutes ago, Maestro said:

It simply means that if you incur medical expenses for this pre-existing condition, you have to pay it out of your pocket.

A notable exception to this is that many people have excellent insurance coverage from companies not on the accepted list (my main gripe with this system).

 

In which case you would claim on your existing insurance and consider the worthless Thai policy to be just that - garbage. Garbage that you pay for if you for some reason decide to use the O-A visa method instead of the O visa method which requires no insurance...

Edited January 8, 2020 by ukrules

[UKresonant]

43 minutes ago, ukrules said:

A notable exception to this is that many people have excellent insurance coverage from companies not on the accepted list (my main gripe with this system).

 

In which case you would claim on your existing insurance and consider the worthless Thai policy to be just that - garbage. Garbage that you pay for if you for some reason decide to use the O-A visa method instead of the O visa method which requires no insurance...

Also the Thai insurance T&Cs require you to be in Thailand more than 6 months in 12. If someone were looking to come here, or were not here all year round. 

Thats why I anticipate that the O-Visa is not at risk, for this poorly concieved arrgt, but extensions could be in future.

[glegolo]

3 hours ago, Maestro said:

@AdamTheFarang

 

The fact that when an insurance is required and you have a pre-existing condition and the policy you buy from one of the listed companies does not cover this condition and you have no other insurance cover for this condition does not mean that you have to leave Thailand.

 

It simply means that if you incur medical expenses for this pre-existing condition, you have to pay it out of your pocket.

Thank you, this is really great that you gave this answer. I have been very uncertain before how this works. But if it is like to claim above than all good....

 

So I can purchase a policy from the garbage-insurance thai ones on the "list", they will exclude all previous conditions I got, end they will offer me this 40 + 400.000 baht to a very reduced cost of course, and I will be very happy.... This is what you say??? Well, maybe the reduced part was too optimistic I guess....??

 

glegolo

[Langsuan Man]

3 minutes ago, glegolo said:

Thank you, this is really great that you gave this answer. I have been very uncertain before how this works. But if it is like to claim above than all good....

 

So I can purchase a policy from the garbage-insurance thai ones on the "list", they will exclude all previous conditions I got, end they will offer me this 40 + 400.000 baht to a very reduced cost of course, and I will be very happy.... This is what you say??? Well, maybe the reduced part was too optimistic I guess....??

 

glegolo

This is what bribery looks like if it is official, since that is all the insurance really is, a gratuity via the Cabinet-Immigration-Police  cabal 

[glegolo]

Just now, Langsuan Man said:

This is what bribery looks like if it is official, since that is all the insurance really is, a gratuity via the Cabinet-Immigration-Police  cabal 

hahahaha, yeah you may be correct, like the beach boys sang; "Good only knows"

 

glegolo

[Momofarang]

For the time being

 

6 hours ago, ukrules said:

There is no requirement for insurance on the 'O' visa which is very different and does require money in the bank....

just a for the yearly extension of an OA visa.

 

This a great video. I am amazed that the general reaction to the current situation is to dig one's head into the sand.

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Momofarang

[kingstonkid]

12 hours ago, AdamTheFarang said:

Retirement is Non-O therefore has anything changed in regards to insurance? 

Just did my annual trip for my retirement extension.  No mention of insurance.

[4MyEgo]

The long of the truth.

 

The video in my opinion is nothing short of trying to stir up the hornet's nest. It showed no options, therefore is implying that Thailand doesn't want farangs to retire here, which for those of us that live here know is a load of rubbish.

 

My take on this is simple if you think outside the square.

 

Could it be that Thailand wanted to strengthen a current loophole whereby it make it mandatory for those who do not have money in Thailand to have money in the bank to support themselves if hospitalisation was required ?

 

Making sure that those on the retirement visa otherwise known as an the non O visa have 800,000 baht in their Thai bank account for 2 months before they apply for their extension and 3 months after their extension, with 400,000 baht to remain in the account for the remainder of the year, i.e. making sure those on the O visa/extension based on retirement have at least 400,000 in their bank account, which in hindsight reduces the exposure to Thailand's hospitals from those farangs who have no money in their bank account to pay for any necessary treatment/s if and when in hospital.

 

By doing the above I believe that the Thai government has understood that doing things this way, it is not impacting on most farangs, as those farangs should have the required 800,000 baht in the bank anyway and as has always been the case, albeit they tweaked the law to make it so that the farangs have 400,000 baht or half of that 800,000 baht requirement in the account for the 12 months to assist those farangs for any such unforeseen events should they require hospitalisation as opposed to peein it up the wall and leaving it for the government to pay the hospitals, well someone has to pay the tab.

 

I call this good management and the Thai's being understanding of the fact that if they imposed mandatory insurance for farangs on the non O visa/extension, it would have a major impact on a lot of elderly farangs who couldn't get insurance over a certain age, perhaps they looked at the statistics and said, these guys have been here for years and xyz of them are in their 60's, 70's, 80's and would have to leave which would create a big mess for them and also impact on a lot of Thai's, although minimal, then you have those who have families and are not married to Thai's although have Thai partners that they support, get my drift, so I applaud the Thai government for shoring up the loophole, it's responsible and for not making it mandatory for the retirement and or marriage visa/extensions to take out mandatory health insurance, and do not see them making it mandatory in the future for the above reasons I have stated. If they do, we will all have to address it when and it arises, speculating will only cause us stress, and we are all here to enjoy ourselves, are we not ?

 

Those on the O/A visa don't require to have the 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account and can enter and leave Thailand when they want, so it looks that perhaps they know more than what they are wanting to say, just my thoughts, i.e. maybe they have uncovered a system where those on the O/A could enter, get what they required from the hospital system and exit without paying, just my thought as paranoid as it sounds, and if true has left the Thai's with a loophole which costs the Thai taxpayer to foot the bill. If they don't want to take out the mandatory insurance, they can simply changed visas to an O based on retirement or even go for an elite visa, they have options, it's not a do or die scenario and has nothing to do with farangs not being welcome.

 

Whoever made this video simply cannot see past his own nose, because it's that big it's obscures his vision.

 

This is just shoring up the loophole, i.e. if you have a non O, then you are now required to have mandatory insurance before you depart your country, and it must be with a Thai health insurance company, which they can verify, unless it is one on the list that fits the criteria, like I said, they are shoring up the loophole, call me mad, I don't mind, but I like to think outside the square.

 

I am all for mandatory health insurance in all countries, I mean why should someone else pick up the bill, in Australia where I come from, in the state of Melbourne last year if I recall correctly, the government had to pay $80,000,000 in costs to hospitals for visitors to Melbourne who had used the system, had no insurance and then left, I believe they had recouped 3/4's of it, but $20,000,000 or a 1/4 was ridden off, so why should Melbournian's have to foot the bill, for those that don't know, Australia has 7 states last time I checked, although I haven't been far south for a couple of days if you would excuse the pun. 

 

I have a pre-existing condition, I have health insurance, I am on the marriage extension, albeit it is expensive and it only covers me for emergency cover, and it will go up when I turn 60 this year, like it or lump it, I have to carry my own, rightfully so as I am a guest here in Thailand, although I can self insure as there is no mandatory requirement for me to have health insurance in Thailand, and I could self insure and pocket the annual expense, but like I said, I should carry my own and not rely on the Thai's to cover me or allow me to self insure because monitoring such I would imagine would be difficult unless they want to put a few farangs noses out of joint, like make it mandatory to have x amount of baht in the bank for 12 months of the year. 

 

I don't have the solution, but the video is all one sided and for those that can see through the propaganda, will stay on to enjoy Thailand with her warts and all.

 

If you don't have money in the bank albeit 400,000 baht to keep in the bank for a year at a time without touching it, you shouldn't be here, it's not a great deal of money, and if you drink that much, i.e. 12 Changs a day, you won't be on this planet much longer.

 

Just my two bobs worth. 

Edited January 9, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[lazygourmet]

8 hours ago, glegolo said:

hahahaha, yeah you may be correct, like the beach boys sang; "Good only knows"

 

glegolo

Quite opposite, actually...

You need to have a serious mental disorder if you want to say here forever.

[glegolo]

1 minute ago, lazygourmet said:

Quite opposite, actually...

You need to have a serious mental disorder if you want to say here forever.

Sorry for the misquote of Beach Boys, it should read of course "God only knows"..

 

But regarding your post, I think that some people actually have this disorder, and it is so usual that it has become a normal "order", at least for me.

 

I do not want to say that this is the optimal life then I would be lying, but as we all do, we compare, and in my case I compare to my life that is being offered to me in Sweden, and then my answer to you would be, that it takes a REAL disorder to choose that life again...

 

I am happy here and the only remaining wish I have is that when I going I will be going fast and not ending up like a cucumber here in Isaan, but besides that, life is great my friend.... Maybe you just have a caputt approach to it???

 

glegolo

[Thingamabob]

3 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Just did my annual trip for my retirement extension.  No mention of insurance.

Likewise..

[4MyEgo]

37 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

This is just shoring up the loophole, i.e. if you have a non O, then you are now required to have mandatory insurance before you depart your country, and it must be with a Thai health insurance company, which they can verify, unless it is one on the list that fits the criteria, like I said, they are shoring up the loophole, call me mad, I don't mind, but I like to think outside the square.

Correction non O/A, too late to edit the above.

[stouricks]

9 hours ago, glegolo said:

hahahaha, yeah you may be correct, like the beach boys sang; "Good only knows"

 

glegolo

Please do not insult The Beach Boys by spelling the name of their song incorrectly. Thanks.

[glegolo]

Just now, stouricks said:

Please do not insult The Beach Boys by spelling the name of their song incorrectly. Thanks.

Do not insult ME by NOT checking the posts before you, thanks

 

glegolo

[ChouDoufu]

13 hours ago, Maestro said:

@AdamTheFarang

 

The fact that when an insurance is required and you have a pre-existing condition and the policy you buy from one of the listed companies does not cover this condition and you have no other insurance cover for this condition does not mean that you have to leave Thailand.

 

It simply means that if you incur medical expenses for this pre-existing condition, you have to pay it out of your pocket.

that's..............strange.

 

certain people, depending on visa type, are required to have insurance coverage, allegedly to prevent thai hospitals getting stuck with the tab for the uninsured retirees.

 

except if they have (a) pre-existing condition(s), the carrier will issue the policy with an exclusion, and then the retiree can stay............without coverage for the condition that is likely to put them in the hospital.....in which case the thai hospital may get stuck with the tab.

 

priceless.

[lazygourmet]

15 minutes ago, glegolo said:

Sorry for the misquote of Beach Boys, it should read of course "God only knows"..

 

But regarding your post, I think that some people actually have this disorder, and it is so usual that it has become a normal "order", at least for me.

 

I do not want to say that this is the optimal life then I would be lying, but as we all do, we compare, and in my case I compare to my life that is being offered to me in Sweden, and then my answer to you would be, that it takes a REAL disorder to choose that life again...

 

I am happy here and the only remaining wish I have is that when I going I will be going fast and not ending up like a cucumber here in Isaan, but besides that, life is great my friend.... Maybe you just have a caputt approach to it???

 

glegolo

Sorry glegolo...

No pun intended on my previous post because I did not want to quote you.

My mistake.

Edited January 9, 2020 by lazygourmet

[oznomad]

11 hours ago, UKresonant said:

Also the Thai insurance T&Cs require you to be in Thailand more than 6 months in 12.

All of the acceptable OA insurance options?

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

The long of the truth.

 

The video in my opinion is nothing short of trying to stir up the hornet's nest. It showed no options, therefore is implying that Thailand doesn't want farangs to retire here, which for those of us that live here know is a load of rubbish.

 

My take on this is simple if you think outside the square.

 

Could it be that Thailand wanted to strengthen a current loophole whereby it make it mandatory for those who do not have money in Thailand to have money in the bank to support themselves if hospitalisation was required ?

 

Making sure that those on the retirement visa otherwise known as an the non O visa have 800,000 baht in their Thai bank account for 2 months before they apply for their extension and 3 months after their extension, with 400,000 baht to remain in the account for the remainder of the year, i.e. making sure those on the O visa/extension based on retirement have at least 400,000 in their bank account, which in hindsight reduces the exposure to Thailand's hospitals from those farangs who have no money in their bank account to pay for any necessary treatment/s if and when in hospital.

 

By doing the above I believe that the Thai government has understood that doing things this way, it is not impacting on most farangs, as those farangs should have the required 800,000 baht in the bank anyway and as has always been the case, albeit they tweaked the law to make it so that the farangs have 400,000 baht or half of that 800,000 baht requirement in the account for the 12 months to assist those farangs for any such unforeseen events should they require hospitalisation as opposed to peein it up the wall and leaving it for the government to pay the hospitals, well someone has to pay the tab.

 

I call this good management and the Thai's being understanding of the fact that if they imposed mandatory insurance for farangs on the non O visa/extension, it would have a major impact on a lot of elderly farangs who couldn't get insurance over a certain age, perhaps they looked at the statistics and said, these guys have been here for years and xyz of them are in their 60's, 70's, 80's and would have to leave which would create a big mess for them and also impact on a lot of Thai's, although minimal, then you have those who have families and are not married to Thai's although have Thai partners that they support, get my drift, so I applaud the Thai government for shoring up the loophole, it's responsible and for not making it mandatory for the retirement and or marriage visa/extensions to take out mandatory health insurance, and do not see them making it mandatory in the future for the above reasons I have stated. If they do, we will all have to address it when and it arises, speculating will only cause us stress, and we are all here to enjoy ourselves, are we not ?

 

Those on the O/A visa don't require to have the 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account and can enter and leave Thailand when they want, so it looks that perhaps they know more than what they are wanting to say, just my thoughts, i.e. maybe they have uncovered a system where those on the O/A could enter, get what they required from the hospital system and exit without paying, just my thought as paranoid as it sounds, and if true has left the Thai's with a loophole which costs the Thai taxpayer to foot the bill. If they don't want to take out the mandatory insurance, they can simply changed visas to an O based on retirement or even go for an elite visa, they have options, it's not a do or die scenario and has nothing to do with farangs not being welcome.

 

Whoever made this video simply cannot see past his own nose, because it's that big it's obscures his vision.

 

This is just shoring up the loophole, i.e. if you have a non O, then you are now required to have mandatory insurance before you depart your country, and it must be with a Thai health insurance company, which they can verify, unless it is one on the list that fits the criteria, like I said, they are shoring up the loophole, call me mad, I don't mind, but I like to think outside the square.

 

I am all for mandatory health insurance in all countries, I mean why should someone else pick up the bill, in Australia where I come from, in the state of Melbourne last year if I recall correctly, the government had to pay $80,000,000 in costs to hospitals for visitors to Melbourne who had used the system, had no insurance and then left, I believe they had recouped 3/4's of it, but $20,000,000 or a 1/4 was ridden off, so why should Melbournian's have to foot the bill, for those that don't know, Australia has 7 states last time I checked, although I haven't been far south for a couple of days if you would excuse the pun. 

 

I have a pre-existing condition, I have health insurance, I am on the marriage extension, albeit it is expensive and it only covers me for emergency cover, and it will go up when I turn 60 this year, like it or lump it, I have to carry my own, rightfully so as I am a guest here in Thailand, although I can self insure as there is no mandatory requirement for me to have health insurance in Thailand, and I could self insure and pocket the annual expense, but like I said, I should carry my own and not rely on the Thai's to cover me or allow me to self insure because monitoring such I would imagine would be difficult unless they want to put a few farangs noses out of joint, like make it mandatory to have x amount of baht in the bank for 12 months of the year. 

 

I don't have the solution, but the video is all one sided and for those that can see through the propaganda, will stay on to enjoy Thailand with her warts and all.

 

If you don't have money in the bank albeit 400,000 baht to keep in the bank for a year at a time without touching it, you shouldn't be here, it's not a great deal of money, and if you drink that much, i.e. 12 Changs a day, you won't be on this planet much longer.

 

Just my two bobs worth. 

More than two bobs worth, a very good post.

I have stayed here for ten years with several pre-existing medical conditions on a retirement visa. I use my top level private health cover in Australia for six-monthly medical checks. As long as I keep 800K baht in a Thai bank , I don't think the Thai government will worry about me.

[glegolo]

15 minutes ago, lazygourmet said:

Sorry glegolo...

No pun intended on my previous post because I did not want to quote you.

My mistake.

asch  all good no worries

 

glegolo

[wwest5829]

16 hours ago, Swiss1960 said:

false on so many levels

- first, not everybody needs health insurance, only people with OA Visa

- second, the health insurance might exclude pre-existing conditions (as does mine), but still I have insurance 

therefore, once again false rumours by people who probably want to scam others

Please moderate your stance here. I have pre-exiting conditions which have been excluded concerning my heart and circulation. Therefore, no insurance will be paying any claim (my biggest risk) concerning this. So much for unpaid medical cost protection. Pay for insurance that will not pay the claim?

[wwest5829]

16 hours ago, AdamTheFarang said:

Retirement is Non-O therefore has anything changed in regards to insurance? 

No insurance currently required for “O” Visa. Only for “O-A” Visa.

[4MyEgo]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I use my top level private health cover in Australia for six-monthly medical checks.

Thanks.

 

I didn't know you could get an Ozzie insurer, insure you here if you were out the country for x amount of months, or were no longer a resident for tax purposes, is there one I missed ?

[wwest5829]

13 hours ago, Maestro said:

@AdamTheFarang

 

The fact that when an insurance is required and you have a pre-existing condition and the policy you buy from one of the listed companies does not cover this condition and you have no other insurance cover for this condition does not mean that you have to leave Thailand.

 

It simply means that if you incur medical expenses for this pre-existing condition, you have to pay it out of your pocket.

You may not stay in retirement on an “O-A” Visa without the medical insurance from one of the approved insurance companies (I speak only of Chiang Mai Royal Thai Immigration).