I cant decide if I should take out health insurance via a life ins policy

[bbabythai]

Im fast approaching the big 50. My wife has a life insurance policy and would you believe she pays 240,000 a year premium. I think its 3mill payout if she dies. Private hospital cover for situations when she is admitted. But say she breaks a leg and spends a day in hospital and goes home that day then its not covered. 

 

The only positive thing about her policy is that if something serious does happen and she is admitted then we will get the money back via the insurance. 

 

I suppose Im concerned about having something serious myself and say for example Im in a private hospital and my wife has to come up with a million baht or more (eg stroke) because I dont have insurance. We dont have joint bank accounts....  I have some funds back home but could be logistical nightmare if I cant send it etc. 

 

For the record I was a teacher at a govt school and am paying the 400 a month and have access to the big hospital here via the SS system. I tried it a few times and unsure of the quality. I found the drs a bit second rate and the inside of the hospital is quite old looking. 

 

Thus, I thought about taking out a life ins policy with a low payout eg 50,000 for the sole purposes of getting private health cover. 

 

Or is it possible to get private health cover direct? Whats the best option do you think in Thailand?

 

thanks

[xylophone]

For a start, 240,000 baht a year premium for your wife is a pretty hefty price, and it seems like it is only in-patient treatment anyway.

 

But that's beside the point, because you have to decide whether you want health insurance or life insurance, although some policies can mix the two, it can become an expensive exercise.

 

At your age, health insurance which will cover things like hospital stays and a stroke, for example, will not be that expensive (around 50,000 baht and less as an example???) And you can get cover for up to 5 million baht and more if you want to pay a higher premium.

 

In my day, the main reason for taking out life insurance was that if you were the breadwinner and you died, then your dependents (as well as the mortgage) would be taken care of with the insurance pay-out, but that doesn't seem to be what you're looking for.

 

I have health insurance here through a Aetna, although there are others around which are cheaper (Pacific Cross for example) so have a good look round to see what is on offer, and I have an arrangement whereby I pay my premiums on a monthly basis straight from my bank, which makes life a little easier in these times of uncertainty.

 

Good luck.

[whiteman]

The above answer is correct in many ways I would think your wife has life cover + health cover the life cover she has is a smaller life cover + savings.

 

These sort of policies are old style that I sold over 20+ years ago.

 

Unfortunate that in Thailand they do not just sell term life cover.  you can get term cover from say AXA u.k. from in Thailand there are many more suppliers that are not based in Thailand but cover Thailand look on internet. If interested PM  I have no connection to any of the suppliers but the one I use I am very happy with I am 73 and have a good health cover that covers me for life at a reasonable premium. I had one in Thailand till last year had it for over 9 years then I changed it and got better coverage for half the premiums.

 

I have worked in the business for over 28 years b4 I retired 10 years ago. 

[Max69xl]

Your wife should lower the inpatient coverage and have a small outpatient coverage. Then an accident driving a bike and breaking a leg will be covered. 240,000 baht a year is imo way over the top. 

[stouricks]

12 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Your wife should lower the inpatient coverage and have a small outpatient coverage. Then an accident driving a bike and breaking a leg will be covered. 240,000 baht a year is imo way over the top. 

I am with Cigna Close Care. Took out policy 12 months ago and cost £3300 for Bht 12M cover. Asked about In patient cover....they wanted another £1500 for up to Bht 1M.

[stouricks]

23 hours ago, bbabythai said:

I think its 3mill payout if she dies

WHEN she dies!

[xylophone]

7 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Your wife should lower the inpatient coverage and have a small outpatient coverage. Then an accident driving a bike and breaking a leg will be covered. 240,000 baht a year is imo way over the top. 

Agree with the sentiments in this post, however before changing any health insurance cover, be aware that the changing of policies can be problematic, if with another company, mainly because any instances of hospital visits and illnesses prior to the change, may be considered "pre-existing conditions" and could be excluded from a new policy.

 

As "whiteman" has said, the combined health and life insurance policies are all types of policies which were mainly discontinued in other countries because they were not particularly beneficial to the client, but were very profitable for the company (and salesperson). However having said that I have noticed that some of the banks here offer a similar sort of policy, a practice I thought had ceased a while ago.

 

Do your homework before deciding upon anything, but as others have said, the amount being paid by your wife is extortionate in my opinion, and if you want a comparison, I am 73 years old this year and I pay 130,000 baht per annum for my health cover alone.

 

Also like "whiteman" I was involved in the industry for quite a few years and set up an "Insurance Services" unit for a major bank as well as training the advisers, so do have some knowledge on this.
 

[rwill]

This is Aetna Platimun Plan for a 48 year old.  Price as shown includes 60K/year for outpatient and 1 million payment for death.  You can lower or get rid of those 2 for even lower cost.  That would be better coverage and much lower payment than what your wife is paying.  They have other plans that are even cheaper.

Edited July 15, 2020 by rwill

[bbabythai]

On 7/14/2020 at 11:59 AM, xylophone said:

For a start, 240,000 baht a year premium for your wife is a pretty hefty price, and it seems like it is only in-patient treatment anyway.

 

But that's beside the point, because you have to decide whether you want health insurance or life insurance, although some policies can mix the two, it can become an expensive exercise.

 

At your age, health insurance which will cover things like hospital stays and a stroke, for example, will not be that expensive (around 50,000 baht and less as an example???) And you can get cover for up to 5 million baht and more if you want to pay a higher premium.

 

In my day, the main reason for taking out life insurance was that if you were the breadwinner and you died, then your dependents (as well as the mortgage) would be taken care of with the insurance pay-out, but that doesn't seem to be what you're looking for.

 

I have health insurance here through a Aetna, although there are others around which are cheaper (Pacific Cross for example) so have a good look round to see what is on offer, and I have an arrangement whereby I pay my premiums on a monthly basis straight from my bank, which makes life a little easier in these times of uncertainty.

 

Good luck.

Thanks for your reply. Have you ever had to do a claim from Aetna? Was it successful. 

[xylophone]

15 minutes ago, bbabythai said:

Thanks for your reply. Have you ever had to do a claim from Aetna? Was it successful. 

Hello again,

Actually I did have to make a claim against Aetna, and I was very impressed with the procedure, inasmuch as I gave my Aetna member card to the hospital and they sorted it all out for me, as it appears that Aetna will deal directly with the hospital, which saved me any hassle whatsoever.

 

A couple of things to consider if you are looking at taking out health insurance/cover is that you need to establish how long the cover will last, because some companies will only cover you up to a certain age, say 65 or 70, before ceasing to allow you to have that cover, whereas others will cover you until the day you pop your clogs!

 

The problem with having a policy which ceases at a certain age, is that by the time you reach that age, you are usually too old to be accepted for health cover by another company, and anyway it may well be that you have had far too many "pre-existing conditions" by the time you reach that age, as to make it worthwhile for another company to take you on.

 

I see that another poster has posted a typical policy from Aetna, however to me that still seems expensive for a 48 year old, BUT, the premiums can be reduced, as the poster has said, by limiting or not taking the outpatient cover (which is what I have done, because I don't mind paying the odd few thousand baht for one thing or another) and reducing the accident/death cover, or even not bothering with it (of course these are all personal choices, but it does give you some leeway with regards to deciding how much you want to pay).

 

Regarding your wife's cover IMO I think this is far too expensive and if I were in your shoes, I would find out a little more about her policy (and by all means send me a private message if you wish) and what is entailed in cancelling that and taking out another one with somebody else, which deals mostly with health rather than death.

 

Good luck with your research and by all means fire away with any other questions you may have.