Non Imm OA Thai Insurance Pacific Cross aged 62

[gk10002000]

I was just starting my Non Imm OA visa stuff from the USA.  Went to the Thai embassy DC website, went  to the health insurance link.  Clicked on Pacific Cross.  Site opens and asks a few questions, then displayed the plan options.  Cheapest OA plan started at 42,000 baht, maximum coverage like 780k baht... and one could select a deductible as high as 300,000 baht, and the plan premium is only 19,000 baht.

 

  So basically a useless plan, except it would satisfy the Thai health insurance requirements.  So if one is paying for and wants to keep US medicare, or if one has ex military Tri Ca re or some other medical insurance they like and will work for them, then just buying this literal throw away policy is an option to get the retirement visa, keep getting extensions, etc.

 

  A somewhat acceptable plan with 5 million baht coverage had a premium of 92,000, and with a 300k deductible would come down to 41,000 baht.  Any plan higher than that starts making Thailand not cheap.  The darn premiums would exceed my COBRA premiums I am paying for the next 18 months after just leaving my company. 

 

  What a racket

 

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by gk10002000

[Langsuan Man]

7 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

What a racket

 

Did you try the option to obtain the foreign insurance certificate instead of buying the useless  Thai based insurance ?

 

What the idiots who came up with this mandatory insurance policy did not or do not care about is that the first block on most insurance claim forms is "Do you have any other insurance".  Once you check that box your  primary insurance will deny your claim and force to you use the Thai insurance  

 

Even if they do cover any "excess" it's going to take a long time to get reimbursed since you are going to have to fight it out since we all realize that the Thai insurance will cover practically nothing, especially the pre existing conditions gotcha that they built into the system

 

If something is mandatory then the insurers should have to provide mandatory coverage 

[Peter Denis]

35 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

...

What the idiots who came up with this mandatory insurance policy did not or do not care about is that the first block on most insurance claim forms is "Do you have any other insurance".  Once you check that box your  primary insurance will deny your claim and force to you use the Thai insurance  

...

Yes, if you have already a decent health-insurance policy, that's an extremely important consideration to take into account when you decide to subscribe to the @#$%^ thai health-insurance scam just to meet the OA - retirement extension requirement.

Nobody in his right mind - after having done some research on the issue - would ever fall for that scam.  So every time I read on the Forum that someone did subscribe for the thai-approved health-insurance because he (thinks he) needs it to continue living long-stay in Thailand, I cringe and feel sorry for him.

Hence my mission to inform all OA Visa holders on ways to escape that expensive, worthless and actually poisonous scam.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Peter Denis

[gk10002000]

2 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Did you try the option to obtain the foreign insurance certificate instead of buying the useless  Thai based insurance ?

 

What the idiots who came up with this mandatory insurance policy did not or do not care about is that the first block on most insurance claim forms is "Do you have any other insurance".  Once you check that box your  primary insurance will deny your claim and force to you use the Thai insurance  

 

Even if they do cover any "excess" it's going to take a long time to get reimbursed since you are going to have to fight it out since we all realize that the Thai insurance will cover practically nothing, especially the pre existing conditions gotcha that they built into the system

 

If something is mandatory then the insurers should have to provide mandatory coverage 

 I understand exactly what you mean, but I do not think what you wrote is correct.  It may depend on the policy.   I don't know what makes one policy the prime or not, but I do understand your point. If one has private insurance, say you retired from a company that actually had a pension and benefit plan with insurance for retirees, if in the USA even most of those "pension" insurance plans then go away and they expect the retiree to go onto Medicare.  At least I know Northrop Grumman does that.

[Sheryl]

If you plan on living permanently in Thsiland better check what those premiums will be as you age.

 

While all insurance premiums rise with age the Thai based ones do so more dramatically.  There is even one insurer  -- not the one you are looking at -- who at I think 85 has a premium equal to the maximum cover (e.g. for 40pk cover you have to pay 400k a year...makes zero sense). 

 

How omd are you?

[gk10002000]

19 hours ago, Sheryl said:

If you plan on living permanently in Thsiland better check what those premiums will be as you age.

 

While all insurance premiums rise with age the Thai based ones do so more dramatically.  There is even one insurer  -- not the one you are looking at -- who at I think 85 has a premium equal to the maximum cover (e.g. for 40pk cover you have to pay 400k a year...makes zero sense). 

 

How omd are you?

I have no intention of living permanently in Thailand.  I will be paying USA medicare and I have a fine place to live in Florida and plenty of places and things and reasons to spend time in the USA.  But I do plan and want the freedom to come and go relatively easily in Thailand.  I was just always planning to get a retirement "visa" (yes I know the difference between visa and extension).  In the near term, since I just "retired" I am looking for some very long stays in Thailand.  A few SEtVs with 30 day extension now and then is probably what I will end up doing, given the nuttiness of health insurance, 90 day reporting, the income method with monthly transfers is just so distasteful to me, and I don't want to tie up 800k baht in a foreign country , etc.  But after that first 60 days I really do get uber lazy and content with being there and then will make longer visa plans.  The Non OA from the USA was always my preferred and easiest arrive on station plan, but not committed to it yet.

[Peter Denis]

1 hour ago, gk10002000 said:

The Non OA from the USA was always my preferred and easiest arrive on station plan, but not committed to it yet.

Provided you can get your US insurer to fill in and sign the Foreign Insurance Certificate stating that your policy meets the thai IO health-insurance requirements of min 400K in-patient / 40K out-patient (ridiculously low coverage, by the way), the Non Imm OA is still the Golden Visa choice.

A recent post on the forum of a US citizen indicated that his insurer did issue the FIC for him, so it is possible but you probably/definitely need some luck/persuasion with your insurance contact-person to get it done.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Peter Denis

[Langsuan Man]

22 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

I do understand your point. If one has private insurance, say you retired from a company that actually had a pension and benefit plan with insurance for retirees, if in the USA even most of those "pension" insurance plans then go away and they expect the retiree to go onto Medicare.

When you are on Medicare, Medicare is your prime insurance for hospitalization and Medicare Part B for office visits 

 

Even with Medicare Part B you will still need a supplemental insurance policy for the annual co-pays and things that are not covered by Medicare so many employee sponsored insurance plans want your business for this supplemental coverage so they encourage you to continue coverage and they pay everything  

 

Especially true for Federal Employees Benefits Program since not only do they want your premiums but the big bucks that they receive from your USG employer's contribution