Private Health Cover For The Wife

[darrenr]

Just wondering what everybodies thoughts on insuring my thai wife with private health i.e such as BUPA when she can access the Thai health system ?

[chiang mai]

You're asking TV members whether you should insure your wife's health, seems a little bit odd but OK.

Personally I would insure her through Thai Social Security first of all, around 450 baht per month gives her a number of benefits including health insurance - if she works her job pays, if she's unemployed then she/you can pay, even gives her a pension at age whatever.

[canopus1969]

Can never quite understand when the foreigners take out private medical insurance they expect their wives & offspring to be subjected to the (let's be truefull) poor and slow Thai health system.

[darrenr]

thanks for the info. Could you advise where and how you apply for ""Thai Social Security"health insurance

[chiang mai]

thanks for the info. Could you advise where and how you apply for ""Thai Social Security"health insurance

Each larger Amphur seems to have its own Social Security office, typically it's located near all the other government office in your area. I'll bet that if you were to ask your wife she knows where your local one is - a clue might be, find the Land Office and the SS Office is probably nearby.

[jfchandler]

I was talking to my wife, who's a private hospital nurse, the other day about this...

As she explained it to me, there's two different kinds of medical coverage for Thais...

One is the Gold Card scheme, where the poor and unemployed can visit the government hospital in their home amphur for just a few baht per visit.

Then there's the scheme mentioned above, which typically applies to those who are employed. I thought people on that plan likewise can only use the one government hospital in their home town. But my wife explained that's not correct, people can choose their own hospital off a list, and there are both privates and government hospitals on the list.

I discovered she chose Rajivithi Hospital near Victory Monument for the government health scheme, though she gets her actual medical care from her own private hospital where she works.

From what she said, the larger farang oriented hospitals are not on the government plan list, including Bumrungrad, BNH, Samitivej, Phyathai and others. But some decent private hospitals are on the list.

So I don't think it's necessarily true to claim that all the care Thais receive thru the government health plan is by definition slow and poor.

[thaiericsweden]

There are many Thai insurance companies (Life ins. and Non-life ins.) offering some form of health insurance.

The choice all depends on your budget.

The range is from a few thousand a year to over 100,000 Baht a year for comprehensive cover.

You can spend your time contacting various insurance companies for comparative quotes or you can let a broker do this for you. It costs nothing extra. In addition to saving time, the broker is able to pre-qualify a variety of insurance companies based on their experience.......less time wasted contacting companies that have little or nothing to offer in terms of health insurance.

In Thailand, the majority of health insurance is sold by life insurance companies.

AIA Life insurance company commands the largest share of the market, almost 40%.

The simple reason for this is that they are the pioneers in the life insurance market in Thailand.

AIA had a very long head-start before the competition realized this was a very profitable business.

There are many insurance companies offering health insurance in Thailand, 25 life insurance companies and 75 non-life insurance companies.

Most persons buying health insurance, base their choice of insurance policy on the choice of benefits and budget.

This is because premiums and benefits are easily compared.

Other features that are not obvious cannot be compared before making a choice.

There are companies that offer good service and companies with poor service.

In addition to service, the background and financial stability of the insurance company has to be included as a factor in determining your final choice.

I would suggest that your wife avoid to buy health insurance from a life insurance company.

There's nothing wrong with buying a little life insurance, but keep it separate from the health insurance.

The Thai insurance regulations issued by the Office of Insurance Commission stipulates that life insurance companies must include a life insurance policy when they sell health insurance.

Your wife cannot buy a stand-alone health policy from a life insurance company.

In addition to this restriction, the health insurance plans offered by life insurance companies will almost always have fixed sub-limits on the medical benefits.

Once a sub-limit is reached, the excess balance has to be paid by the customer.

An inexpensive health insurance from a non-life insurance company that includes a Major Medical benefit will cover higher medical bills than an offer from a life insurance company.

The Major Medical benefit will cover 80% to 90% of the costs in excess of basic medical benefits.