Expat health insurance, company reviews requested?

[brewsterbudgen]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

I am paying my premiums in GBP so I would hope UK law......for what it's worth! 

I paid my WRLife premium in US dollars!

[KannikaP]

9 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

I paid my WRLife premium in US dollars!

Any claims yet? Do you trust them?

 

You can pay in GBP, USD, EUR or THB according to their 'Application Form' which seems more important than the space they give you to tell them about pre-existing conditions and treatments.

Edited May 16, 2022 by KannikaP

[brewsterbudgen]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

Any claims yet? Do you trust them?

 

You can pay in GBP, USD, EUR or THB according to their 'Application Form' which seems more important than the space they give you to tell them about pre-existing conditions and treatments.

No claims, but I've only been using them for less than a year.  I was put on to them via my broker.  He has had claims with other clients and said there were no issues.

[buddy2010]

THE WRLIFE TEAM- writes in its website: "We are fully licensed insurance agents and brokers !"

 

Each broker, like also the WRLIFE-TEAM, in its own web page of itself writes, will tell you that there are no problems with the insurance!

 

After all, he lives off the commissions of the insurance companies!

[jerrymahoney]

8 hours ago, buddy2010 said:

THE WRLIFE TEAM- writes in its website: "We are fully licensed insurance agents and brokers !"

 

Each broker, like also the WRLIFE-TEAM, in its own web page of itself writes, will tell you that there are no problems with the insurance!

 

After all, he lives off the commissions of the insurance companies!

Just to note from the https://www.april.com/en/about/ website:

 

APRIL, insurance made easy

 

APRIL is the leading wholesale broker in France with a network of 15,000 partner brokers.

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by jerrymahoney

[Yellowtail]

On 5/13/2022 at 4:46 PM, jerrymahoney said:

First off that was my post about WRLife. I first started looking to change insurers because , after 5+ years with CignaGlobal, I was moving to an area with no direct payment hospital. I found the CignaGlobal procedures with no direct payment for emergency or non-emergency to be unacceptable. Also, at age 70, I was limited to my choiice of insurers including April. And the WRlife folks knew that I had 10 years with BUPA-Thailand pre-Aetna and 5+ years with CignaGlobal with zero claims.

 

I had Cigna ant they were great. I never used the direct payment, I always just paid the bills and submitted for reimbursement, which were all paid pretty quickly. They squeaked about a couple, but when I resubmitted they ultimatly paid for everything. 

 

In any event, if you're 70 and have had zero claims in the last 15 years, why not just self insure? What do you think's going to happen now that you could not pay for out-of-pocket? 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Yellowtail
clarity

[sqwakvfr]

A follow up question could be:  How was your claim handled?  Insurance companies can be great up until when a policy holder files a claim.  I have never filed a claim on the two Health Insurance Policies that I have  in Thailand.  The service provided from both companies so far has been good.  I hope they honor their policy commitments if and when I file a claim.  

[jerrymahoney]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

I had Cigna ant they were great. I never used the direct payment, I always just paid the bills and submitted for reimbursement, which were all paid pretty quickly. They squeaked about a couple, but when I resubmitted they ultimatly paid for everything. 

 

In any event, if you're 70 and have had zero claims in the last 15 years, why not just self insure? What do you think's going to happen now that you could not pay for out-of-pocket? 

 

 

 

What if the bill was 500,000 or 1+ million  baht -- you want to pay that one first and then wait for reimbursement?

 

And for question 2, which really means you have a reserve, because if you self-insure, and if there ever is a big claim against your reserve, your reserve may be back to near zero.

 

I have Medicare back in US so, if there are events like heart attack, stroke, aneurism, etc., my insurance objective is to become stable enough here in LOS to be able to go back to US for any needed further care.

Edited May 18, 2022 by jerrymahoney

[jerrymahoney]

1 hour ago, sqwakvfr said:

A follow up question could be:  How was your claim handled?  Insurance companies can be great up until when a policy holder files a claim.  I have never filed a claim on the two Health Insurance Policies that I have  in Thailand.  The service provided from both companies so far has been good.  I hope they honor their policy commitments if and when I file a claim.  

https://aseannow.com/topic/1254832-private-health-cover-increased-by-almost-100-in-2-years/?do=findComment&comment=17301976

 

[Yellowtail]

15 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

What if the bill was 500,000 or 1+ million  baht -- you want to pay that one first and then wait for reimbursement?

Yes, I did this for almost twenty years. I have a "no foreign exchange rate fees"  credit-card so along with getting points, the way they calculated the exchange rate they actually reimbursed more than I paid. 

 

With Cigna I could file online, with BCBS I had to email the forms. Once you fill out the form the first time you just go in and edit, save and submit.

 

15 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

And for question 2, which really means you have a reserve, because if you self-insure, and if there ever is a big claim against your reserve, your reserve may be back to near zero.

Yes, I would only recommend this to someone that has the savings to do it.

 

 

15 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

I have Medicare back in US so, if there are events like heart attack, stroke, aneurism, etc., my insurance objective is to become stable enough here in LOS to be able to go back to US for any needed further care.

I'll start Medicare in November. I might be wrong, but realistically, if you have a heart attack or stroke at 70, by the time you're stable you're pretty much spent the bulk of what your going to spend on it. Don't aneurisms just kill you? 

 

 

[jerrymahoney]

Thank you. You win.

 

You asked: why not just self insure?

 

To me, self-insurance as used on this website just means you have no insurance.

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by jerrymahoney

[scubascuba3]

Those with pre existing conditions excluded, usually because it's the most likely thing you'll claim on will have to self insure anyway

[jerrymahoney]

That they might have to pay for excluded pre-existing condition expenses out-of-pocket has nothing to do with insurance. 

 

A true self-insurance plan for an individual would be covering medical expenses oneself up to an amount each year and then buying an excess cover beyond that. Self-insurance rarely means 'no insurance'.

Edited May 18, 2022 by jerrymahoney

[Yellowtail]

23 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Those with pre existing conditions excluded, usually because it's the most likely thing you'll claim on will have to self insure anyway

With the exception of "group" plans, anything that covers pre-existing conditions is not really insurance.

 

Compelling insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions and mandating low-deductible policies has ruined the private medical insurance business in the US for all but the rich and the poor. 

[Yellowtail]

15 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

That they might have to pay for excluded pre-existing condition expenses out-of-pocket has nothing to do with insurance. 

 

A true self-insurance plan for an individual would be covering medical expenses oneself up to an amount each year and then buying an excess cover beyond that. Self-insurance rarely means 'no insurance'.

I don't think you can still buy high deductible insurance in the US can you? 

[jerrymahoney]

3 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

With the exception of "group" plans, anything that covers pre-existing conditions is not really insurance.

 

Compelling insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions and mandating low-deductible policies has ruined the private medical insurance business in the US for all but the rich and the poor. 

Some plans allow for declared pre-existing conditions to be covered after a waiting period.

[jerrymahoney]

11 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

I don't think you can still buy high deductible insurance in the US can you? 

I don't know -- not in my game plan.

 

With CIGNA Global you could get with an individual policy a $10,000 annual deductible so that could almost be considered as self-insurance.

Edited May 18, 2022 by jerrymahoney

[Sheryl]

24 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

Some plans allow for declared pre-existing conditions to be covered after a waiting period.

Correct. And some insurers will offer to cover pre-existing conditions for a higher premium.