Medical insurance for foreigners on the cards again

[andy72]

Actually its a crazy idea, because that then puts the onus of responsibility on Thailand 

 

by taking 300 baht they are being responsible for your health care of course we do not know the full extent of said policy but a dangerous move

300 baht please specify coverage, if i am in some auto accident will thailand then have to take full care of me 
likewise covid care

 

how many foreigners i have met that get stricken with some bug go to the docs or hospital and claim their insurance because they do not have a clue. a few pills from the pharmacy usually suffices.

it really is a dodgy move plus if your health care inadequate out with the lawsuits.

 

what will 300 baht cover

 

[Pilotman]

7 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

UK is already £1.8 trillion in debt, whats another half a billion....????

 

27%?

[Zikomat]

All those 10000 tourists who will visit Thailand this year will hardly like the idea.

[Boomer6969]

Wonder why they don't raise the extension of stay renewal fee to 5500 Bahts, of which they could earmark 12 times 300 for health risk. 

 

[BobbyL]

would likely be added to the cost of the air ticket as a supplement

 

As usual, thoroughly unclear by these people. How would I as a foreigner be able to stipulate that I am not a tourist and I already have my own fully comprehensive health insurance with my job in Bangkok already. Or are they perhaps blanketing every single non - Thai as a tourist. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by BobbyL

[Pilotman]

19 minutes ago, andy72 said:

Actually its a crazy idea, because that then puts the onus of responsibility on Thailand 

 

by taking 300 baht they are being responsible for your health care of course we do not know the full extent of said policy but a dangerous move

300 baht please specify coverage, if i am in some auto accident will thailand then have to take full care of me 
likewise covid care

 

how many foreigners i have met that get stricken with some bug go to the docs or hospital and claim their insurance because they do not have a clue. a few pills from the pharmacy usually suffices.

it really is a dodgy move plus if your health care inadequate out with the lawsuits.

 

what will 300 baht cover

 

haha  that made me laugh.   Let me spell it out for you and all the others moaning about it on this post;

 

They tell you what to pay and you pay it,  then you can come here; don't pay and you don't get in.  It's like the expensive beer in a GoGo bar, it's an entrance fee, don't expect anything for it, bar getting in.   

[marqus12]

When I flew to Asia for the first time I chose Thailand and not Vietnam

or Philippines because the ticket was the cheapest and I got 30 days 

for free at the airport.
Of course, during the first trip I was overcharge for everything.
Then Thailand was the most popular, let everyone in and

made the best money.

[CLW]

Too many details missing, e.g. what exactly is will be covered and how much?

 

Basically a good idea but I don't have much hope for the execution...

[andy72]

11 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

haha  that made me laugh.   Let me spell it out for you and all the others moaning about it on this post;

 

They tell you what to pay and you pay it,  then you can come here; don't pay and you don't get in.  It's like the expensive beer in a GoGo bar, it's an entrance fee, don't expect anything for it, bar getting in.  

thanks where would we all be without your succinct clarity 
god, what were we all thinking 
of course you are completely correct to use an analogy such as a gogo bar
no money no honey

im not opposed to the idea at all so you misread my statement (not moan)

if any country issues health insurance coverage they have to honor it

i dont want to here the bs that this is thailand you get what you pay for (why has that go go dancer got a bulge in her pants )

issue a green tax a departure tax an eco tax

but if you offer health insurance you better be clear what you get for it or every country whose citizen is damaged will have your ass.

did i spell that out its a-s-s 
????

 

[OnTheRun]

2 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

As per usual with these government-concocted schemes.

 

So how will they distinguish between visiting tourists and foreign residents? Will I still have to automatically pay that embedded fee although I, a resident of some 30 years, hold a comprehensive first-class health insurance policy?

 

I travel very frequently for business (well, I used to before Covid). Does that mean I'll have to shoulder that compulsory fee each and every time I purchase a ticket, i.e. 12 - 15 times a year?

Same here, I also don't know how they would apply it on airfares, would foriegn airlines have to discount Thai nationals 300 Baht?. Perhaps a return to the 500 Baht departure tax.

[DoctorG]

2 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

So the 12 billion in premiums will be banked with no insurance payouts?

A cunning plan indeed.

[new2here]

Given Thailand’s fairly high number of foreign tourists, I think there is a valid issue about financial risk does the public sector incur for those foreigners who become dependent on public medical resources while on kingdom.

 

to a point, I think it’s fair to say that as a part of benefitting from tourism related income derived from foreigners also comes some inherent risk that you (the Thai government) will have to incur some expenses while they are here.... kind of a “cost of doing business” idea if you will but... I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable for the government to want to recoup/cover some of these expenses.

 

To me, there’s a few choices on implementation.. the easiest way to to do it is via an added ticket “tax” element and having the carriers collect it via normal fare computation/payment processes ... but as others note, you’d run into the issue of people who travel in/out often over a short time frame, and therefore end up paying a larger share of fees.

 

In that case, you could implement this way... before entry offer the ability to “buy” a coverage certificate online (like how some countries allow for online VOA fees) OR upon arrival offer an in-person kiosk whereby cash or card payment can be taken.  In the end, upon payment a certificate would be generated- with the passengers name and passport - and with a fixed expiration date; say 60 or 90 days.  
 

Therefore, if a person where to fly in to Thailand again, say a week later, they would present the certificate, show the certificate number to immigration and no payment would be required again.

 

for the “long stay” folks... if you had Thai-based coverage like from government SSO or a Thai-based coverage provider, that entity would issue you a certificate with a longer validity - day one year or as long as your policy is paid up.

[holy cow cm]

If it goes to the Thai government and then they confirm it is good for all things even with pre-existing conditions, then I would fly out just to fly back in to have that coverage. But with most travel insurance as I just purchased it in late February to go to the Philippines, it is virtually useless for the most part. But again if the Government can back all with coverage and not be a shoddy joke then it is a good idea..

[Chivas]

2 hours ago, Pilotman said:

If you think this is bad, wait until all World governments start to recoup the economic costs incurred by Covid 19 and start to lower the massive debts being incurred right now, £500 billion in the UK's case, to date and still rising.  Prepare for massive tax rises across the board in all jurisdictions, weak western currencies, expensive air travel and hotel prices and a massive hike in all classes of insurance, Worldwide. And expect this to go on for many many years.  Welcome to the new World.  This small price to enter Thailand is a lot less that a drop in the ocean, it's nothing in comparison with what's coming.  

Nailed it Pilot.....whats coming for all of us across the board will be catastrophic in financial terms. People believing things will return to normal need to give their heads a serious savage wobble

Edited May 13, 2020 by Chivas

[Pattaya46]

3 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

300 baht is the least of your worries for air travel.

Airfares will need to increase 25% to 50% if airlines are to survive without increased subsidies. 

Unsure why they should increase their prices

when fuel felt at a very low level this year

 

[bristolgeoff]

What if u have travel insurance for your stay.not making the country pay for your medical  cost.do u still pay the cost,but they have being talking about this for awhile because of some people with no insurance.

    Will be not be fair if everyone has to pay for someone else errors

[Pilotman]

10 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Unsure why they should increase their prices

when fuel felt at a very low level this year

 

Major airline total operating costs : – 44% is aircraft operating expense, which includes fuel, direct maintenance, depreciation, and crew – 29% is servicing expense • Aircraft servicing (7%) • Traffic servicing (11%) • Passenger service (11%) – 14% is reservations and sales expense •  – 13% is overhead expense • Advertising and Publicity (2%) • General and Administrative (6%). As a very general rule of thumb, fuel, in isolation, is between 15% and 20% of TOC per flight; however, this is nowhere near the full story as these figures do not take into account leasing, depreciation, or tax. If 'full life costing' is the preferred measure used by an airline for its fleet, then fuel costs fall to something like the lower level of 12% to 15% of the total costs of operating that aircraft through  its operating life with a particular airline, which could be as little as 5 years.  So international fuel prices  will rarely impact ticket prices. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Pilotman

[Pattaya46]

^ Yes, and ?

Fuel price divided by 3 in 1 year => about -30% on operating costs.

[wensiensheng]

3 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

As per usual with these government-concocted schemes.

 

So how will they distinguish between visiting tourists and foreign residents? Will I still have to automatically pay that embedded fee although I, a resident of some 30 years, hold a comprehensive first-class health insurance policy?

 

I travel very frequently for business (well, I used to before Covid). Does that mean I'll have to shoulder that compulsory fee each and every time I purchase a ticket, i.e. 12 - 15 times a year?

Probably. It’s how it works in many other countries.

[drbeach]

3 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

As per usual with these government-concocted schemes.

 

So how will they distinguish between visiting tourists and foreign residents? Will I still have to automatically pay that embedded fee although I, a resident of some 30 years, hold a comprehensive first-class health insurance policy?

 

I travel very frequently for business (well, I used to before Covid). Does that mean I'll have to shoulder that compulsory fee each and every time I purchase a ticket, i.e. 12 - 15 times a year?

Probably yes. It's easy to distinguish between visitors and tourists, although Thai authorities make it easy by applying an "us vs them" approach. As you know, in every conversation made in this country, whether in English or Thai, they constantly find the need to say things like "Chao dang chart" which means "foreigner" and "Khon Tai" which means "Thai". This starts already at immigration with it's "Foreigners" counter, compared to the more PC "visitors" you see at Singapore airport.

 

However, if they think this through properly, a foreign resident with a locally issued policy should be exempt.

[Kerryd]

The idea was floated quite awhile ago when the Health Minister was wailing about the (alleged) 300 million in unpaid hospital bills racked up by foreigners. He even tried to claim that it was the "35 million Non-O" visa holders who were responsible, as though every tourist that arrived in the country was on a Non-O visa.

So their solution ? Make a requirement that Non-O(A) visa holders (only them, not any of the other Visa types) have to buy mandatory health insurance (preferably from the providers they had made arrangements with to offer overpriced plans with inferior coverage).

There was a suggestion of adding a 50 baht "tax" onto the cost of airline tickets (the same way they hid the 750 baht Departure Tax by having it included in the ticket price). 
50 baht times 40 million (ish) arrivals would equal 2 billion in premiums, against what they said was only 300 million in unpaid bills.

But it seems that covering their costs isn't the real purpose here. Not when they are trying to make 12 billion while supposedly only losing 300 million.

[drbeach]

1 hour ago, OnTheRun said:

Same here, I also don't know how they would apply it on airfares, would foriegn airlines have to discount Thai nationals 300 Baht?. Perhaps a return to the 500 Baht departure tax.

That seems discriminatory. How would they do that, page 2, asks the question, are you a Thai citizen? If you tick the box the price is automatically 300 Baht lower?

 

If anything, such a tax should be added to the cost of the visa, like New Zealand is doing. They could also collect it that way IF the country adopts an e-visa or electronic travel authority, which New Zealand implemented back in October. Other countries which have recently adopted a similar system include Canada, the USA and Sri Lanka.

It's no longer possible to enter these countries without an electronic travel authority made in advance of arrival (it's unclear whether you can enter the USA by land without an ESTA, but by air or ship, you definitely need one). If Thailand wants to collect a fee, it needs to follow suit and implement an electronic travel authority. If poor Sri Lanka could do it, so can Thailand.

[British Bulldog]

Ha ! I, like many others, already have to pay 1000 Baht when the 2 annual freebie's run out when I cross the bridge at Nong Khai, now they want to add another 300 Baht to the 1000 Baht ? Ironically I only cross these days to go to Hospital in Khon Kaen, where I pay my own bills, amount to $1000's of USD in some cases ... Luckily, Khon Kaen University Hospitals have not increased their fees to cater for Foreigners as was the case with many other hospitals, I was told by the nurses there that of the 4000 to 5000 outpatients that enter the Hospital complex every day, so few are foreigners, its not worth the accounting hassle ... having said that, I always pay extra for their 1st Class treatment and beds, just as any wealthy Thai would.

[zyphodb]

4 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

12 billion for the trough

Mia noi's rejoicing across the kingdom

Exactly, does anyone honestly think that any of this cash would reach the hospitals???

[miamiman123]

If you don’t know what to say ....just say something 

thats Thailand 

[davidmann]

4 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

As per usual with these government-concocted schemes.

 

So how will they distinguish between visiting tourists and foreign residents? Will I still have to automatically pay that embedded fee although I, a resident of some 30 years, hold a comprehensive first-class health insurance policy?

 

I travel very frequently for business (well, I used to before Covid). Does that mean I'll have to shoulder that compulsory fee each and every time I purchase a ticket, i.e. 12 - 15 times a year?

if. all your words are true. why worry. about 300bt.  ,not even price of meal. 

[Pilotman]

1 minute ago, miamiman123 said:

If you don’t know what to say ....just say something 

thats Thailand 

sounds like TVF

[Pilotman]

4 minutes ago, zyphodb said:

Exactly, does anyone honestly think that any of this cash would reach the hospitals???

so what? 

[Retired Pete]

Okay, add 1-300b to each ticket, but not just for foreigners, Thais as well. Many of us have good insurance here the same as a lot of Thais (but we pay more) so make it fair for all of us and if you can afford to buy air tickets whatever your nationality may be you should be able to afford 1-300b on top for insurance (or whatever) and as already been said it is the tip of the iceberg many more tax increases on the way. 

[Is this real]

Dumb and Dumber.

With international tourism by huge numbers, all countries will be fighting for what there is.  And, Thailand was on a downhill slide before Covid-19.

 

To add an additional charge to come is crazy.  If it's really needed, the government should include this basic insurance with every Visa stamp.  Why give tourists an additional reason to go elsewhere?