In all of the numerous responses to this question, I did not see anything about the connection between MEDICARE Part B and TRICARE for Life, so I will respond about that and my experience of being retired, now, and living in Northeast Thailand for about 8 years. Another factor to add is that my Bride of 57 years holds both Thai and U.S. citizenship, so the cost of MEDICARE Part B, currently $202.90 USD per month for each of us, is doubled to $405.80 per month. I am retired from the U.S. Air Force after a 28-year career, and I am also retired from the Civil Service working for the Department of Defense for another 24 years. My Bride worked for the Air Force Exchange Service for a total of 25 years before she took an early retirement to take care of my mother in hospice care. Each of us pay the $202.90 for MEDICARE Part B deducted from our monthly Social Security checks. That covers medical care in the U.S., and it also covers TRICARE for Life, the medical care insurance for military retirees and their dependents. Here is the part that is vital for us living in Thailand: No, we cannot use MEDICARE for medical services provided in Thailand. However, we CAN claim any medical care or services through TRICARE, which covers up to 80-percent of all covered care. The claim process is completely online through their website, and takes about 2-3 weeks for our bank in the U.S. to receive payment. As others have mentioned, the cost of most routine medical care in Thailand if incredibly inexpensive, particularly when compared to medical care in the U.S. We go to a local clinic about 5.5 kilometers from our home for most routine care. That clinic is open three times a day: 0700-0830, 1200-1300, and 1700-2000 daily, and is staffed by a local family of doctors and nurses who also work at the local government hospital. We time our visits by scheduling our arrival at their clinic for just before they open, so we are the first patients they see. From the time we check in for patient screening, to the time we are seen by a doctor, to the time we pick up our medication and leave, it is typically less than 30-minutes, and typically costs us between ฿200 and ฿500 Thai baht, including the medication. For most of that care, we do not even submit a claim through TRICARE, since it is so little. We have also used both government and private hospitals here. For example, we recently went to the Suddhavej (Teaching) Hospital, part of Maha Sarakham University, to get complete eye exams for each of us that included tests for glaucoma, standard vision tests, and a peripheral vision exam. We were walk-in patients without a prior appointment, so the process took about 3-1/2 hours, including receiving documentation in English, and the total cost for each of us was only ฿550 baht. A few years ago, at the end of the whole COVID-19 pandemic thing, my Bride decided while we were in Roi-et to stop by Chureevetch (Private) Hospital as a walk-in and ask them for a variety of tests: Female physical exams including PAP test, mammogram, chest X-ray, EKG, urinalysis, blood work-up, and doctor analysis, followed by upper and lower GI physical exam tests including colonoscopy, endoscopy, COVID RT-PCR (Rapid) test, medication, and doctor analysis. After spending the day doing the first series of tests, my Bride was admitted into the hospital for the night to take the medication that completely clears the GI track, and then have the rest of the tests done the next morning. By midday the following day after the one night in the hospital, plus meals for both her and me, the total invoice came to ฿35,000 ($1,075 USD), of which TRICARE paid $830 USD (฿26,975). We had to cover a deductible and a co-pay fee adding up to about 20-percent of the total bill. We have also traveled to the U.S. a couple of times, during which we have had a variety of annual tests, vaccines, etc., done that MEDICARE covered completely. So we are not upset at all paying a total of $405.80 for MEDICARE Part B each month that also covers TRICARE.
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