Health insurance help needed for Thailand

[theOZfalang]

Hi everyone new member here. 

I've just retired and moved to Thailand in November last year.

 

Struggling to find Good affordable health insurance.

 

I have private health insurance in Australia through bupa but they will not cover me here.

 

So I'm currently uninsured and am a bit nervous about that.

 

I have no health issues except I did have a few CT scans for a sore tummy last year which has resolved.

 

From what I understand the system here is different and just need help finding something without any restrictions and insane monthly price.

 

49 years old.

I'm in the process of getting all my medical documents sent for me from adelaide.

 

I've never been diagnosed with anything so I'm just trying to navigate how to go forward without shooting myself in the foot.

 

Any and all help appreciated.

 

In samut prakan if that helps.

 

Matt

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by theOZfalang
Typo

[Salerno]

An ongoing thread that may be of interest:

 

 

[Sheryl]

It is not necessary - nor is it at all advisable - to get a policy from a Thai company to be covered in Thailand.

 

A number of international insurers offer expatriate policies. At age 49 you have your pick of quite a wide range of choice.

 

You should ultimately get a policy through a broker, but to start off you can get quotes online for a number of companies  e.g.

 

AXA Global (not to be confused with AXA Thailand!)  https://quote.axaglobalhealthcare.com/quote/info?camp=online-default

 

Cigna Global   (ditto- not same as Cigna Thailand)  https://www.cignaglobal.com/quote/pages/quote/PersonalInformationLiteV4.html?new=true

 

Allianz  https://apps.allianzworldwidecare.com/#/1/getNewQuote

 

April global (ditto - not same as April Thailand)  https://fr.april-international.com/en/living-abroad/myhealth-international

 

William Russell https://www.william-russell.com/expat-health-insurance-thailand/

 

ACS (limited to SE Asia but that might work fine for you)  https://www.acs-ami.com/en/expat-health-insurance/acs-asia/

 

 

[internationalism]

try misterprakan.com to compare policies from 6 insurers.

For some below 50k per year inpatient only you can get resonable good policies from the pacific cross.

https://misterprakan.com/th/health/plans?gender=Male&age=49&lg=en&ipd=1&opdf=0&leadid=348157

 

if you are healthy you don't need any medical documents from australia.

 

I would top up your existing bupa with travel insurance. And switched to another plan, when bupa expires.

If you are healthy and reasonable young you don't need to stress yourself for not having insurance

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by internationalism

[theOZfalang]

4 hours ago, Salerno said:

An ongoing thread that may be of interest:

 

 

Thankyou

 

3 hours ago, Sheryl said:

It is not necessary - nor is it at all advisable - to get a policy from a Thai company to be covered in Thailand.

 

A number of international insurers offer expatriate policies. At age 49 you have your pick of quite a wide range of choice.

 

You should ultimately get a policy through a broker, but to start off you can get quotes online for a number of companies  e.g.

 

AXA Global (not to be confused with AXA Thailand!)  https://quote.axaglobalhealthcare.com/quote/info?camp=online-default

 

Cigna Global   (ditto- not same as Cigna Thailand)  https://www.cignaglobal.com/quote/pages/quote/PersonalInformationLiteV4.html?new=true

 

Allianz  https://apps.allianzworldwidecare.com/#/1/getNewQuote

 

April global (ditto - not same as April Thailand)  https://fr.april-international.com/en/living-abroad/myhealth-international

 

William Russell https://www.william-russell.com/expat-health-insurance-thailand/

 

ACS (limited to SE Asia but that might work fine for you)  https://www.acs-ami.com/en/expat-health-insurance/acs-asia/

 

 

 

[theOZfalang]

2 minutes ago, theOZfalang said:

Thankyou

 

 

Thankyou

[theOZfalang]

Thank you to everyone that has responded .

 

I've tried replying to your individual comments but just having trouble with this interface/platform.

 

Really appreciate the advice ...

[timoti]

On 1/11/2023 at 4:06 PM, Sheryl said:

It is not necessary - nor is it at all advisable - to get a policy from a Thai company to be covered in Thailand.

 

A number of international insurers offer expatriate policies. At age 49 you have your pick of quite a wide range of choice.

 

You should ultimately get a policy through a broker, but to start off you can get quotes online for a number of companies  e.g.

 

AXA Global (not to be confused with AXA Thailand!)  https://quote.axaglobalhealthcare.com/quote/info?camp=online-default

 

Cigna Global   (ditto- not same as Cigna Thailand)  https://www.cignaglobal.com/quote/pages/quote/PersonalInformationLiteV4.html?new=true

 

Allianz  https://apps.allianzworldwidecare.com/#/1/getNewQuote

 

April global (ditto - not same as April Thailand)  https://fr.april-international.com/en/living-abroad/myhealth-international

 

William Russell https://www.william-russell.com/expat-health-insurance-thailand/

 

ACS (limited to SE Asia but that might work fine for you)  https://www.acs-ami.com/en/expat-health-insurance/acs-asia/

 

 

Do you find it hard to find the plan policy documents for April? Normally they should be listed under the website very clearly. I normally access them via the personal details page but I mean for non members these PDFs should be easily accessible.

 

Do you know if they can increase or reduce benefits in the future? I just don't know if the benefits are set it stone when you purchased them or if they are flexibly adjusted as time goes on. Maybe they could remove pre/post-op benefits for in patient hospitalization for example.

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, timoti said:

Do you find it hard to find the plan policy documents for April? Normally they should be listed under the website very clearly. I normally access them via the personal details page but I mean for non members these PDFs should be easily accessible.

 

Do you know if they can increase or reduce benefits in the future? I just don't know if the benefits are set it stone when you purchased them or if they are flexibly adjusted as time goes on. Maybe they could remove pre/post-op benefits for in patient hospitalization for example.

I got the plan documents from the broker prior to application.

 

They do have the option to revise  the schedule of benefits (limits on reimbursement) with advance notification.  So far the only thing that changed on that front was the reimbursement for private room  and that was more of a clarification.

 

I don't know if they can totally drop a benefit such as you suggest. It would certainly be an unusual thing to do.

 

[timoti]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

I got the plan documents from the broker prior to application.

 

They do have the option to revise  the schedule of benefits (limits on reimbursement) with advance notification.  So far the only thing that changed on that front was the reimbursement for private room  and that was more of a clarification.

 

I don't know if they can totally drop a benefit such as you suggest. It would certainly be an unusual thing to do.

 

Oh ok I just looked at the new docs, it seems like they revised them a bit. In the top 2 plans, now it says the cover limit is unlimited except some countries. I am very sure it wasn't like this before.

 

And I was looking at the cover zones, it seems like a lot of countries are missing. I asked chat gpt, it's about 136 countries. Now I dont plan to visit most of these countries but some of excluded ones I am interested are:

 

Argentina
Colombia
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Malaysia
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Romania
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Vietnam

 

I am surprised they don't cover Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines for example. I guess travel insurance via a solid credit card will be useful when visiting these places.

 

Or are these countries included in zone 5?

Edited March 31, 2023 by timoti

[Sheryl]

16 minutes ago, timoti said:

Oh ok I just looked at the new docs, it seems like they revised them a bit. In the top 2 plans, now it says the cover limit is unlimited except some countries. I am very sure it wasn't like this before.

 

And I was looking at the cover zones, it seems like a lot of countries are missing. I asked chat gpt, it's about 136 countries. Now I dont plan to visit most of these countries but some of excluded ones I am interested are:

 

Argentina
Colombia
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Malaysia
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Romania
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Vietnam

 

I am surprised they don't cover Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines for example. I guess travel insurance via a solid credit card will be useful when visiting these places.

 

Or are these countries included in zone 5?

"regardless of the coverage zone selected, benefits are valid worldwide (including in your Country of nationality if it is not in your coverage area) in the event of an Accident or Medical Emergency during temporary stays, for non-medical
reasons, not exceeding 90 consecutive days."

 

From the General Conditions 2023 which should be downloadable on your portal

 

[timoti]

3 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

"regardless of the coverage zone selected, benefits are valid worldwide (including in your Country of nationality if it is not in your coverage area) in the event of an Accident or Medical Emergency during temporary stays, for non-medical
reasons, not exceeding 90 consecutive days."

 

From the General Conditions 2023 which should be downloadable on your portal

 

Wow maybe I should get rid of my $150 annual credit card with 90 day health insurance benefit.

[BigStar]

You're young enough so that I suggest you work at least a couple of years at a Thai company or institution that will enroll you in the Thai Social Security System. After you leave, you can continue the modest payments of about B500/mo for the health insurance portion and get free medical care and prescriptions at your selected gov't hsp. for as long as you keep up payments.

 

The care in gov't hsps can be quite good, too. Downsides are the waiting times and the need for basic Thai or accompaniment by a Thai speaker.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by BigStar