Health Insurance for the over 70’s

[newbee2022]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

so you don't know

https://companycheck.co.uk/company/OC401682/WRLIFE-LLP/companies-house-data

[newbee2022]

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

so you don't know

Assist International Services, underwriter for WrLife

https://www.thaiyello.com/company/333809/assist-international-services-co-ltd

[newbee2022]

2 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

https://companycheck.co.uk/company/OC401682/WRLIFE-LLP/companies-house-data

The report claims that Assist International Services are also associated with Pacific Prime and Aviva among other insurance companies

[newbee2022]

20 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

You've probably done the due diligence already, who are wrlife regulated by? who underwrites their policies? in the event of needing to go to court, what country?

Amongst the Directors of WrLife are a number of Thai's who are also Directors of Assist International Services(AIS) in Bangkok. AIS handle all the Insurance claims for WrLife. AIS is owned by Dr.Boon Vanasin who is the Chairman/Owner of the Thonburi Hospital Group.

WrLife is not regulated in Europe or Thailand. Their General Insurance Licence is held in the Territory of St.Kitts & Nevis and ReInsurance Licence in UAE. WrLife policies are underwritten by AMS Underwriters at Lloyds of London.

My guess that the finance behind the operation is the Owner of Thonburi Hospital Group and that the offshore set up is to avoid tax & regulatory issues.

So far have not heard of any issues with unjustified non payment of claims.

Am not making any recommendations to buy or not just giving some facts

[newbee2022]

17 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

23 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

 

WRLIFE POLICY ENGLISH (1)(1).pdf 1.4 MB · 1 download

so you don't know

Your reply is not nice. At least you should give me the time to go through my files. 

[JoseThailand]

On 5/29/2024 at 8:21 AM, Nemises said:

or marry a Thai government employee.

 

It's possible to have Thai social security and keep it for life if you have a work permit and work at least 6 months in Thailand. No need to be married for that.

[msbkk]

6 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

 

It's possible to have Thai social security and keep it for life if you have a work permit and work at least 6 months in Thailand. No need to be married for that.

It depends on the branch of SSO where you are registered. Myself and others were refused to continue the insurance on a voluntarily basis.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, newbee2022 said:

Assist International Services, underwriter for WrLife

https://www.thaiyello.com/company/333809/assist-international-services-co-ltd

i doubt they underwrite, i recall they may be to do with admin

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, newbee2022 said:

Amongst the Directors of WrLife are a number of Thai's who are also Directors of Assist International Services(AIS) in Bangkok. AIS handle all the Insurance claims for WrLife. AIS is owned by Dr.Boon Vanasin who is the Chairman/Owner of the Thonburi Hospital Group.

WrLife is not regulated in Europe or Thailand. Their General Insurance Licence is held in the Territory of St.Kitts & Nevis and ReInsurance Licence in UAE. WrLife policies are underwritten by AMS Underwriters at Lloyds of London.

My guess that the finance behind the operation is the Owner of Thonburi Hospital Group and that the offshore set up is to avoid tax & regulatory issues.

So far have not heard of any issues with unjustified non payment of claims.

Am not making any recommendations to buy or not just giving some facts

There was another thread where i think Dr Boon resigned there was some issue, but i maybe wrong on that

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, newbee2022 said:

Amongst the Directors of WrLife are a number of Thai's who are also Directors of Assist International Services(AIS) in Bangkok. AIS handle all the Insurance claims for WrLife. AIS is owned by Dr.Boon Vanasin who is the Chairman/Owner of the Thonburi Hospital Group.

WrLife is not regulated in Europe or Thailand. Their General Insurance Licence is held in the Territory of St.Kitts & Nevis and ReInsurance Licence in UAE. WrLife policies are underwritten by AMS Underwriters at Lloyds of London.

My guess that the finance behind the operation is the Owner of Thonburi Hospital Group and that the offshore set up is to avoid tax & regulatory issues.

So far have not heard of any issues with unjustified non payment of claims.

Am not making any recommendations to buy or not just giving some facts

I'm still not clear who regulates them? and what country you would need to goto to sue? Nevis and Kitts?

 

Maybe I'll check out AMS as underwriter, no one mentioned them before

[EVENKEEL]

On 5/28/2024 at 9:09 PM, Ben Zioner said:

I was talking about about keeping the cover from your employer once you retire.

 

I think this is available to most US civil servants, many large corporation and the UN. I belong to the last group. The way is works is quite simple: the underwriter assesses the whole group of employees and retirees instead of assessing individuals. The premium (millions) is paid by the organisation and fully or  partly recovered from the employees and retirees.

 

This is not uncommon at all. Then of course the question is wether this cover works in Thailand. In my case, being from a UN organisation, obviously the cover had to be international. And very honestly, if that hadn't been the case I wouldn't have retired here. As you get older having to face massive medical expenses isn't a possibility anymore, it becomes a damn certainty.

As a fed employee I kept my BC/BS international Insurance when I retired. Not many are so lucky.

[scubascuba3]

The guys who stayed with the same company for decades and was probably underpaid may still have health insurance but the guys who moved around may have made much more money, so it's swings and roundabouts

[jas007]

2 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

As a fed employee I kept my BC/BS international Insurance when I retired. Not many are so lucky.

Same here. It works all over the world.  It’s not cheap, though, all things considered.  I looked the other day. My portion is around $324 a month, if I remember correctly.  On top of that, the government pays twice that amount, so the total cost of the policy is almost $1000 a month.  On top of that, I also pay for Medicare Part B.  I forget what the cost of that amounts to.  Over $200, I think.  

[Ben Zioner]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

The guys who stayed with the same company for decades and was probably underpaid may still have health insurance but the guys who moved around may have made much more money, so it's swings and roundabouts

"May", dunno about you, but I kept my last job for over 23 years, and the pension qualified me for LTR/WP. There is a time to to move around, a time to settle down, and a time to retire. For my generation at least. 

[Ben Zioner]

1 minute ago, jas007 said:

Same here. It works all over the world.  It’s not cheap, though, all things considered.  I looked the other day. My portion is around $324 a month, if I remember correctly.  On top of that, the government pays twice that amount, so the total cost of the policy is almost $1000 a month.  On top of that, I also pay for Medicare Part B.  I forget what the cost of that amounts to.  Over $200, I think.  

Yes, very similar to my UN plan. I paid another 150 for my daughter.

[Rumpelstilskin]

On 5/29/2024 at 9:54 AM, Ben Zioner said:

Why do some many people drop their cover when they retire?

Anything having to do with heart will not be covered if you even take blood pressure meds. Don't collect, so why play plus  so much better investments (wine,women and song) for the €.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, Ben Zioner said:

"May", dunno about you, but I kept my last job for over 23 years, and the pension qualified me for LTR/WP. There is a time to to move around, a time to settle down, and a time to retire. For my generation at least. 

usually the longer you are at a company the longer you are underpaid, treated as a plodder 

[Sheryl]

18 hours ago, msbkk said:

It depends on the branch of SSO where you are registered. Myself and others were refused to continue the insurance on a voluntarily basis.

If/,when that happens, call the head office hotline while still in the branch office and let them talk to the staff. Stand your ground.

 

Thais almost never continue it after  they stop working since they can just shift to the universal scheme which is  completely free. As a result  staff have limited experience handling this and some don't know how. 

[Ben Zioner]

18 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

usually the longer you are at a company the longer you are underpaid, treated as a plodder 

Well, when you perform you won't be treated as plodder, simple. But let's get back to need to have a robust health cover for those who want to retire to Thailand. I was saying it must be part of the very early planning.

[dddave]

21 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Not sure what you mean by "US government hospitals"?  The US does not have a system of these.

 

A few  cities and counties have public hospitals, and there are federally run military and veteran hospitals. That's about it. Overwhelming majority of hospitals in US are privately owned and operated. 

 

AFAIK the health plans for US government officials let them use any hospital. 

"Not sure what you mean by "US government hospitals"?  The US does not have a system of these"

 

I was referring to facilities such as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and several other Military Medical Centers administered outside of the larger Veterans Hospital Network.  They are very well funded and have long been the go-to for government officials.

[Sheryl]

Flaming posts have been removed

[JoseThailand]

On 5/31/2024 at 5:00 PM, msbkk said:

It depends on the branch of SSO where you are registered. Myself and others were refused to continue the insurance on a voluntarily basis.

 

Maybe you didn't meet some requirements. They are pretty clear and not hard to meet.

[msbkk]

31 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

 

Maybe you didn't meet some requirements. They are pretty clear and not hard to meet.

I clearly met the requirements. This was however 10 years ago. At that time the SSO rules were not really so clear and known to the offices.

[Paris333]

Dear Sir

I am neither an expert to offer you any advice nor a medic to help you in something but I am Greek civilian who have been visiting Thailand since 2010 year.

I advice you to return back at your home country in order to complete your medics problems and surgery furthermore to stay at your home country for 3 additional months in order to be examined in full check ups from medic specialists and if you take your clearance that your medical record is okay then you are again well come to return back in Thailand healthy and powerfull.

Do not trust your health status in "premiums" and "minimum" in foreign local medical mafia because sooner or later you will regret it. Medics health insurance is the new "shadow" untaxed economy they are not angels.....

Dont pay additional "premiums" in medical mafia because our lovely Thailand under of the current term of Prime Minister Mr.Shrettha medical mandatory insurance policy for those above 50s  have been tranformed similar to banana third world countries for the average tourists. ( I omit discriminations....among ages......).

As an already mature tourism country in Southeast Asia I expected from the current Prime Minister and his appointee Health Minister Mr Somsak in collaboration with locals western Embassies in Bangkok to offer available list of medical facilities in Bangkok and mainland (the rest big cities of the Kingdom) which will offer medical assistance at short period of time for those tourist who have been accidentally hit from not serious illness.

Human rights activists support illegal immigrants who do not have paid anything for health contribution in accomodation new selected countries and Thailand refuse to treat a legal foreign civilian like "you" and "me" at first grade level who both make our choice to stay in Thais for many years and contribute to their economy?

The real problem is not your age 70 year old  but Thais private medics mafia who see all visitors in this beautiful Kingdom as a "golden fish" after corona fairy tale period.

 

 

[QuantumQuandry]

On 5/30/2024 at 3:32 PM, Sheryl said:

But there is a 5 year moratorium on anything else.

 

Could be wrong but I think that's on the pre-existing conditions that they accept.  Not all non-emergency items.

 

On 5/30/2024 at 3:32 PM, Sheryl said:

What I need is not available through public hospitals, either.

 

Brings up an interesting question.  How many procedures are not available through public hospitals?

 

I went to Pattaya hospital a couple times and they basically didn't seem to have any specialists, iirc.  But I have been to Queen Sirikit and they had specialists for everything my wife needed.

 

Is your situation, where it's not available through public hospitals a rare edge case or is it not that uncommon?  Not trying to pry about your specific case, just curious what the odds are of a public hospital being able to take care of my future needs.

[JoseThailand]

1 hour ago, msbkk said:

I clearly met the requirements. This was however 10 years ago. At that time the SSO rules were not really so clear and known to the offices.

 

Now they are very clear and transparent.

[QuantumQuandry]

Just saw this comedy sketch that is on topic:

 

 

[rumak]

On 5/29/2024 at 8:18 AM, Tazmo said:

Any experience with Insurance cover for the over 70’s?

 

My experience is only what i read here on this forum .   The main thing i have seen is that almost everyone ( some exceptions)  posts that their premium keeps going up ( a lot)  ,  even they have no claims.     

Then there are the stories ( agonies) of those fighting with the companies (stressful) to get their claim paid for .

Then there are guys like me.   I have always saved through the years ( and i did NOT make big big bucks) ..... knowing that some day i would get old .   I have also taken care of my health as best i can ,  though of course i have some issues.   I pay for those myself ,  and if i ever have a "major"  issue  my savings over the years, not giving it to insurance "providers" ,  is in the bank where i can get to it . 

And the funniest part is ............ they either wouldn't cover me now (over 70), or if they did the cost would be huge,   as well as the things they would not cover .

Self insure..... it worked for me .    Or, gamble that your company will "just say no "

[Hummin]

13 minutes ago, rumak said:

 

My experience is only what i read here on this forum .   The main thing i have seen is that almost everyone ( some exceptions)  posts that their premium keeps going up ( a lot)  ,  even they have no claims.     

Then there are the stories ( agonies) of those fighting with the companies (stressful) to get their claim paid for .

Then there are guys like me.   I have always saved through the years ( and i did NOT make big big bucks) ..... knowing that some day i would get old .   I have also taken care of my health as best i can ,  though of course i have some issues.   I pay for those myself ,  and if i ever have a "major"  issue  my savings over the years, not giving it to insurance "providers" ,  is in the bank where i can get to it . 

And the funniest part is ............ they either wouldn't cover me now (over 70), or if they did the cost would be huge,   as well as the things they would not cover .

Self insure..... it worked for me .    Or, gamble that your company will "just say no "

 

Those who need an insurance most, is those who is not diciplined enought to save, invest, or even imagine future and how it can be getting struck by a dissaster early 70ˋies or later. Even worse, in your 50´ies or 60´ies.

[rumak]

3 minutes ago, Hummin said:

 

Those who need an insurance most, is those who is not diciplined enought to save, invest, or even imagine future and how it can be getting struck by a dissaster early 70ˋies or later. Even worse, in your 50´ies or 60´ies.

that's true ...... bbbut ...... the problem for many is that they did not foresee the out of proportion increases in everything within the Medical Complex .  Which is out of control,  as are the "necessary"  increases by their cohorts:  insurance companies.

 

of course our govt elites  do not have to worry about the costs .   they are guaranteed a very nice retirement  🙂  ,  which they enacted for themselves .