Possibility Of Medical Coverage With Pre-existing Conditions

[stickball]

Hello everyone,

Despite my research I am unable to learn whether or not it is possible to obtain comprehensive medical coverage for myself. My plan was to come to Thailand, take a tesol/celta course and begin teaching. However, I have one major hurdle. Twenty four years ago I had a kidney transplant, consequently I require a great deal of maintenance medication, which in the US is only possible with insurance.

I am wondering about a couple of things. As I stated previously, my intention was to come to Thailand and take a TESOL course. Following that I had hoped to begin teaching in either a language school or an international school if I was lucky. I have read a good deal about both types of schools and understand that obtaining med. coverage is possible, but I need to be certain of the particulars before I make a final decision. Does anyone here have experience with this? If it is not possible, is there a pharmacy or hospital that would be recommended to contact?

Finally, if it would help to have a little more biographical data; I am 39 years old, BA Painting/ Art Education, Certified in the state of Arizona for Secondary Education (Art), and I have 6 years teaching experience. I thought maybe a little more data might help people have a clearer picture of me and my employability.

Thank you very much for those of you that have taken the time to read this. I appreciate everyone's time and consideration.

J

[FBN]

Moved to Insurance forum for best possible advice...

[jazzbo]

If you were to receive a bona fide teaching position from a government school or high-end private school you would receive or buy into Government Health Care regardless of your medical history. For your first 6 months or less in the Kingdom while you are exploring you could buy a travel policy that would cover you for anything but your kidney condition but would good to have anyway and not expensive. Buying an Individual policy on the International market I would guess is dicey; applying to BUPA Thailand with full disclosure of your medical history at your age would be a reasonable bet but with exclusions expected.

That all said, if your medications for maintenance are available generic in the USA then they are probably available here at very low cost ; if you require non-generic brand name, they may be available but the same price as the USA; however, you would not have to see a doctor JUST to maintain your prescription.

[Jingthing]

You should post your EXACT medication requirements and post in the Health forum here. We have a nurse who posts there who would likely know about the availability in Thailand. Often the brand names are different in different countries for the same active ingredients. You may also wish to call one of the bigger Thai pharmacies like Fascino and ask to talk to a pharmacist. Then you can get specific info on the cost of these meds in Thailand. The cost at hospitals will be much higher. Sometimes rare medications are only available at hospitals, rather than pharmacies. As a general rule (but not always true) the retail cost of meds here will be significantly lower in Thailand than US. Sometimes dramatically so.

[TerryLH]

"If you were to receive a bona fide teaching position from a government school or high-end private school you would receive or buy into Government Health Care regardless of your medical history."

I don't know what 'bona fide teaching position' means.

If you get a job teaching at a government school you can get in the Thai Social Security system. No exclusions for pre-existing conditions that I have heard about.

Thai Social Security health system is not the same as the government system for government employees. You won't get in that one.

Employees at private schools are not eligible for Thai Soc Sec since about the beginning of 2008.

If employed by a school that is eligible (govt school); once you sign up there is a 3 month waiting period before you can use the the health benefits.

Soc Sec will assign you a hospital to use. If there are several choices in your area, they might let you choose. Once a year, January I think, you can apply to change hospitals.

Once you stop working, you can still use the system for an additional 6 months. If you remain in Thailand, you can sign up and pay on your own. Very easy to do.

Soc Sec cost you 5% of your salary, up to a maximum of 750฿ a month. Your employer will pay the same amount.

If you sign up and pay on your own, the cost is 432฿ a month.

If you change jobs from one that is eligible to one that is not (govt to private school), you sign up and pay yourself.

Hope this helps.

[stickball]

Thanks very much for everyone's input and advice. I was getting pretty frustrated with all this, your help has been an encouragement. Per suggestion I am posting the list of medications I require in another thread.

Thank you all very much.

[Ijustwannateach]

If you have a genuine teaching license from your state, you would be mad to come to Thailand to do TEFL. Go through the international school network and pick up a job here with first-world pay for your credentials.

However, unless you can stay on the same insurance, I am sure they would provide you with private insurance- those schools are private concerns- and they would certainly deny your claim as a pre-existing condition.

From what you've said, and from the fact that Thailand is not exactly medically first-rate in the area of transplants, I don't think your plan is a good one for you. Choose Japan, for instance, where you can get on the national health scheme there (which applies to all hospitals and clinics)- not that their doctors are always sane either.

Good luck.

[stickball]

Hi,

My teaching credentials are genuine. I graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA Painting, minor art education. I am certified in the state of Arizona to teach secondary art. Also, I have 6 years experience teaching art to middle and high schoolers ages 11- 19.

I would love to come to Thailand and teach at an international school. That said, how do I get linked up with an international school network? It seems like a great way to go, but I haven't the faintest idea about it at this point.

Thanks again.

[jazzbo]

but I haven't the faintest idea about it at this point.

1) start here: International Schools Association of Thailand > http://www.isat.or.th/employment.asp

2) try here: http://www.learn4good.com/jobs/language/en...untry/thailand/

3) consider contacting Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts at a major University including painting, sculpture, visual communication design... :

http://fa.kku.ac.th/eng/

Then instead of the 'Insurance' Forum start looking at the 'Teaching in Thailand' Forum: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Teaching-Tha...-Forum-f46.html where you will find that you are not alone

Edited January 8, 2010 by jazzbo

[jfchandler]

To the OP, a couple things you should know...

In terms of private health insurance in Thailand, the private insurers here are pretty firm about excluding pre-existing conditions, and how far back they go in wanting to know your history varies from company to company. Sometimes 5-10 years, sometimes almost forever.

If something is excluded, it can eventually be requested to be covered again, but generally only if the person has been free from symptoms AND treatment for that particular issue for a two-year consecutive stretch.

In terms of the Govt. Health Scheme, you should know, while it does include and allow participants to select some private hospitals, it also excludes most of the higher end farang-oriented hospitals in Bangkok where you're likely to find the best offerings of service and medicines, including Bumrungrad, BNH, Samitivej, Phyathai and others.

In terms of prescriptions, the good news is you can obtain many drugs here from pharmacies without having to get a doctor's prescription, which is handy is a person has a chronic maintenance need. Just walk up to the pharmacy, name your med, and pay your money.

The bad news is some specialized medicines that you could routinely find in the U.S. are simply not available in Thailand at all... And some other medicines are available, but only through hospital pharmacies (not retail pharmacies) with a doctor's prescription.

For routine meds, the prices and availability are much better here than in the U.S. But for specialized and high-end meds, access and availability can be a problem.