Insurance Is Only Expensive When You Have N't Got Any!

[jerrybeirne]

get your health insurance boys and girls. i've just payed out 90,000bht after shattering my elbow in a cycling accident. unfortunatly i was not insured. i was going through the motions of starting a new policy after letting my present one elapse. all my own fault i know.

its not over yet as i still have to pay for physio etc.

im suprised at the number of long term residents i meet here who dont have any insurance.

for the price of a couple of singhas a day you can get reasonable cover.

up to you teelak!

[jazzbo]

I'm surprised at the number of long term residents i meet here who don't have any insurance.

Of course they have insurance. They have SELF-Insurance... It's the Libertarian way.

[paulchiangmai]

I'm surprised at the number of long term residents i meet here who don't have any insurance.

Of course they have insurance. They have SELF-Insurance... It's the Libertarian way.

There appears to be nothing for the over 70s at anywhere near a reasonable cost. If there is then please tell me about it. I just pray that I am given enough warning to get to Australia or somewhere, always a worry.

[piewarmer]

I WOULD get health insurance here if it was around 10 thousand a year.

No way I'm lining someone else's pockets.

[chiang mai]

I stopped paying health insurance premiums in the UK ten years ago when they reached £2,500 per year, given the annual rate of increase in premiums I reckon that today those premiums would be around double. In the ten years since I stopped paying I have paid out around £5,000 in medical fees but have saved something in the order of £35,000 in premiums which has subsequently been earning interest. True, it's entirely possible that tomorrow I may be diagnosed with a very dangerous and very expensive disease which may cost me millions of Baht in health care, but there again I may not - as things stand presently that disease is going to have to cost me at least Baht 2 million before it causes me financial pain!

[aussiebebe]

Do premiums really cost that much? amazing. I thought you had universal health care in the UK? you must have been one of only a small percentage of people who went private? Nice to hear you've saved so much money though, these forums are usually doom and gloom.

[dsfbrit]

I stopped paying health insurance premiums in the UK ten years ago when they reached £2,500 per year, given the annual rate of increase in premiums I reckon that today those premiums would be around double. In the ten years since I stopped paying I have paid out around £5,000 in medical fees but have saved something in the order of £35,000 in premiums which has subsequently been earning interest. True, it's entirely possible that tomorrow I may be diagnosed with a very dangerous and very expensive disease which may cost me millions of Baht in health care, but there again I may not - as things stand presently that disease is going to have to cost me at least Baht 2 million before it causes me financial pain!

My thoughts exactly. I have been looking into Personal Accident insurance recently as I am about to renew my car insurance. In the 'small print' and exclusions of all the Personal Accident policies I have looked at there is always a section saying what is and is not covered.

If the Op had been with Bupa - then he would only receive 50 percent of the benefit for a bike accident - then to a maximum of 200k baht. Also if he was drunk or under the influence of drugs - then he would not get a penny.

OK I am not saying its OK to ride a bike when drunk - however if you were to have an accident after a few beers - then you would still want treatment.

In fact the Bupa exclusions 'taking part in a brawl' and 'criminal acts' - is speeding a criminal act???

Thats my gripe about Personal Accident insurance in general - you have to have the 'right sort of accident' or you cannot claim.

Edited December 6, 2009 by dsfbrit

[dsfbrit]

Do premiums really cost that much? amazing. I thought you had universal health care in the UK? you must have been one of only a small percentage of people who went private? Nice to hear you've saved so much money though, these forums are usually doom and gloom.

Yes they are that high - and increasing all the time.

The National Health Service in the UK is very good in my opinion. The downside is the waiting times for certain non critical illnesses. I do not have the official figures, but if you have a hip problem that needs a hip replacement - then its free. The trouble is you may have to wait year(s) to get it. Sometimes as well with the NHS - you can turn up at the hospital for the operation and then be asked to vacate the bed and come back another time as a more urgent case has been admitted.

I can assure you - many politicians and business people in the UK would not use the NHS for operations that require a long waiting time - preferring to claim on their private plan or pay as they go in a private hospital.

Then you can have the operation when you want, with the doctor you want - at the time you want.

Certainly when I had a growth on my stomache some years ago (non cancerous I am glad to say) I paid privately for a Harley Street specialist to cut the thing out. Went to see him on the Monday to have it examined and he operated on the Thursday.

I would have had to wait for several weeks/months just to get to see him under the NHS - and then a longer wait for the operation. In the UK the people who cannot afford to do this 'frown' on it and call it 'Queue Jumping'. I dont see it like that. I dont smoke nor drink and am happy to spend my money on good medical care when I want it.

Edited December 6, 2009 by dsfbrit

[jazzbo]

Self-Insurance -- insuring yourself by setting aside money to cover possible losses rather than by purchasing an insurance policy (courtesy Princeton.edu)

(from Wikipedia): An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries have a deep understanding of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms (Trowbridge 1989, p. 7)...Actuaries evaluate the likelihood of events and quantify the contingent outcomes in order to minimize losses,

both emotional and financial,

associated with uncertain undesirable events.

You guys have missed your calling. Lloyd's of London is always on the lookout for sharp number crunchers like yourselves. BTW do you intend to wait until you are older and maybe with a medical incident or two in your history and then complain -- as guys are doing on other topics here on this Forum -- that those mean Insurance Companies will NOT sell you a policy that cost less than your anticipated annual benefits?

[dsfbrit]

Self-Insurance -- insuring yourself by setting aside money to cover possible losses rather than by purchasing an insurance policy (courtesy Princeton.edu)

(from Wikipedia): An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries have a deep understanding of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms (Trowbridge 1989, p. 7)...Actuaries evaluate the likelihood of events and quantify the contingent outcomes in order to minimize losses,

both emotional and financial,

associated with uncertain undesirable events.

You guys have missed your calling. Lloyd's of London is always on the lookout for sharp number crunchers like yourselves. BTW do you intend to wait until you are older and maybe with a medical incident or two in your history and then complain -- as guys are doing on other topics here on this Forum -- that those mean Insurance Companies will NOT sell you a policy that cost less than your anticipated annual benefits?

Jazzbo - I think you 'love' insurance companies and their practises as much as I do. Tell me though - do you have car insurance or any isnurance at all??? I am about to renew my car insurance - Class A - mainly because if I have an accident with a Thai - I will be the culprit for sure - and for a premium of 11000 baht - I can get my car repaired and the Thai side of the accident sorted out without going to jail.

[jazzbo]

After 35+ years in the USA always WITH a car, I am happy not to have a car in Thailand; if I need a car, I rent one WITH a driver.

My interest -- rather than love -- of insurance is that I specialized in probability logic and mathematics in my limited college years as a Philosophy major -- also worked as an assistant on some translations of Buddhist Logic texts originally written in Sanskrit but translated from Tibetan (classical) language. I also worked on a project for a Lloyd's of London syndicate (Bermuda) regarding Excess Health Insurance related policies that HOSPITALS purchase for cases with complications.

In Thailand I have BUPA Platinum which has served me personally very well... anyone else's experience may differ. I just try to understand their actions in as rational manner as possible knowing full well they may be otherwise. And as I quoted elsewhere from The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) with James Stewart:

Standish: Insurance companies move in mysterious ways. Much like god... only far less generous.

[lennya12threh]

I stopped paying health insurance premiums in the UK ten years ago when they reached £2,500 per year, given the annual rate of increase in premiums I reckon that today those premiums would be around double. In the ten years since I stopped paying I have paid out around £5,000 in medical fees but have saved something in the order of £35,000 in premiums which has subsequently been earning interest. True, it's entirely possible that tomorrow I may be diagnosed with a very dangerous and very expensive disease which may cost me millions of Baht in health care, but there again I may not - as things stand presently that disease is going to have to cost me at least Baht 2 million before it causes me financial pain!

My thoughts exactly. I have been looking into Personal Accident insurance recently as I am about to renew my car insurance. In the 'small print' and exclusions of all the Personal Accident policies I have looked at there is always a section saying what is and is not covered.

If the Op had been with Bupa - then he would only receive 50 percent of the benefit for a bike accident - then to a maximum of 200k baht. Also if he was drunk or under the influence of drugs - then he would not get a penny.

OK I am not saying its OK to ride a bike when drunk - however if you were to have an accident after a few beers - then you would still want treatment.

In fact the Bupa exclusions 'taking part in a brawl' and 'criminal acts' - is speeding a criminal act???

Thats my gripe about Personal Accident insurance in general - you have to have the 'right sort of accident' or you cannot claim.

Thats what I was thinking as well..... I'm not going to have an accident at 80km/h on my bigbike... So if I had 2 beers (not drunk at all), was driving 120km/h, or not driving in the far left lane with this torque monster then I wouldn't be covered.....

I was also thinking about the "not taking part in brawls or criminal acts." What if I got attacked and used self defense but broke a rib? Is that a brawl. I'm seeing all sorts of ways they could scam me out of the insurance for all the probable things that would happen to me at 21 years old.....

Edited December 15, 2009 by lennya12threh