Bupa Health Insurance

[Nam Kao]

Thanks Heng, I'll take a look

nam

[stl]

hello,

i have also bupa , but dont have any problem for the moment because i don't have been to hospital yet

but when i read you i would like to change already this insurance.

i am not shure you have to pay in advance the hospital

[Rags]

Interesting timing for this topic, as my BUPA policy is just coming up for renewal.

My old company used to provide the highest level of BUPA International Gold cover for my wife child and myself. When I left the company I decided to continue the coverage but at a MUCH lower and 'relatively' cheaper level.

The annual cost has now gone up to Baht 130,000, bearing in mind that this is the international BUPA (and not the local version), this is for the basic 'Lifeline Essential' which covers accidents, serious illness and surgery/serious medical treatment but excludes GP visits, dentistry and pregnancy.

I am happy for the general doctor's visits to be excluded as the cost in Thailand is very reasonable, and the policy was really just for the serious and unexpected illnesses etc.

We have luckily not had cause to use the policy at all, which whilst a good thing for my family's health, does make one wonder about the 'gamble' of insurance versus paying from savings.

The alternative is to switch from BUPA International to the local version or to another provider, so please keep the advice and experiences coming!

Rags

[Firefan]

I did quite a lot of research on health insurance and decided on www.goodhealthworldwide.com as they cover all dangerous sports and one can choose a high deductable to keep the premium down.

Problem with "going local" is that almost none of them will have the cover that would be needed if one has serious accident/illness in home country/travelling in Western world.Evacuation/Brain surgery/heart transplant Etc. can easily run up in US$100k-200k in the western world - or even if evacuated from BKK to Singapore.

Why do we insure? In my case to avoid that an illness/accident bankrupts me (should I survive ), NOT to get aspirin and GP visits covered.

I.e. www.goodhealthworldwide.com have the major medical at about $600/ year for 1 person (depending on age) and with deductable of $1000 which covers up to 1.5M USD.

Cheers!

[barryofthailand]

My son was in Bangkok Pattaya hospital with Bronchitis. As i stated in my previous posts I have had Bupa for the past two years. He was in the hospital for 2 days,

and with private room, tests, xrays lab work nursing care and meals the total bill came to 18,290 baht. Bupa paid all but 80 baht, Direct billing. Yes all I had to pay was 80 baht. The coverage leval i have is Emerald. As i stated before i've never had a problem. I also just had a syst removed from the back of my neck in June. Again no problem.

Barry

[Firefan]

Barry; but what if you or a family member get seriously sick while visiting your origin country or travelling in Western world? Heart transplant, a month in hospital after accident, brain surgery or whatever? This can easily cost USD 100k in the US or EU. How much will the Emerald (Thai) cover of that?

Insurance for me is not to get a $500 bill covered, it is for avoiding a financial blow in an already difficult situation of illness/accident.

Cheers!

Edited August 8, 2005 by Firefan

[taxexile]

i have heard that bupa will delay on paying out on claims if they suspect that the hospital may have padded the bill , i heard it from a health insurance agent who sells bupa policies.

there are many hospitals in thailand that bump up the bills when an insured foriegner is admitted. if you have to pay first and then claim back from bupa , you may be in for a long wait whilst bupa count the band aids and decide if they were all necessary.

royal sun alliance thailand have a policy which offers worldwide (except usa and canada) for an unlimited number of days each year.

out patient visits not covered , day case covered , doctors bills , room , and in patient treatment fully covered , repatriation and emergency evacuation covered.

you dont have to pay the bill first and claim later. just notify them and they liase with the hospital.

most outpatient visits are peanuts so i dont feel i need cover for that

i've never had to make a claim so cant say how good they will be when you really need them , but their policy certainly reads better than bupa's and the guy who sells the policy seems an honourable sort.

not the cheapest though.

[udon]

Can I add, that an op on a broken leg costs 120,000bt at most hospitals,

are those of you riding M/Cs fully covered?

Oh, & don't forget to add the outpatient costs.

[Firefan]

I also think that Royal Sun Alliance is a better fit for most expats due to the higher cover limits.

A few things: their policy does NOT cover worldwide for an unlimited number of days. Actually only 90 days. You need to buy extra modules for more days up to max of 210 days.

Also; their policies generally cover SOME inpatient treatments (depending on cover chosen).

Finally; they are currently rewamping their policies so at renewal be prepared for different cover/options/prices.

Cheers!

i have heard that bupa will delay on paying out on claims if they suspect that the hospital may have padded the bill , i heard it from a health insurance agent who sells bupa policies.

there are many hospitals in thailand that bump up the bills when an insured foriegner is admitted. if you have to pay first and then claim back from bupa , you may be in for a long wait whilst bupa count the band aids and decide if they were all necessary.

royal sun alliance thailand have a policy which offers worldwide (except usa and canada) for an unlimited number of days each year.

out patient visits not covered , day case covered , doctors bills , room , and in patient treatment fully covered , repatriation and emergency evacuation covered.

you dont have to pay the bill first and claim later. just notify them and they liase with the hospital.

most outpatient visits are peanuts so i dont feel i need cover for that 

i've never had to make a claim so cant say how good they will be when you really need them , but their policy certainly reads better  than bupa's and the guy who sells the policy seems an honourable sort.

not the cheapest though.

[taxexile]

A few things: their policy does NOT cover worldwide for an unlimited number of days. Actually only 90 days. You need to buy extra modules for more days up to max of 210 days.

i renewed my policy last week and was told that since july this year , the worldwide cover is unlimited and they have removed out patient cover.

maybe thats just the policy i chose , i cant remember the title of it.

it's also cheaper (slightly) than last year.

i think as renewals are done the policies will , as firefan suggests , be modified.

[Gary A]

I have had NSI for the last year and a half. It has a limit of 1,250,000 baht per occurance. I pay about 18,000 baht a year for it and I am 60 years old. I just got out of the hospital from having surgery for appendicitis. My bill was 48,000 baht which I had to pay because the Loei Ram hospital is not on the direct pay list. I called my agent and he told me not to worry because the company will pay but they may have some words with the hospital for overcharging me. The charges were well under my limits for room, medication, surgeon, etc.

[barryofthailand]

Barry; but what if you or a family member get seriously sick while visiting your origin country or travelling in Western world? Heart transplant, a month in hospital after accident, brain surgery or whatever? This can easily cost USD 100k in the US or EU. How much will the Emerald (Thai) cover of that?

Insurance for me is not to get a $500 bill covered, it is for avoiding a financial blow in an already difficult situation of illness/accident.

Cheers!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Fire,

The Emerald service has world wide coverage. I'm from the US, but really n ot concerned about coverage outside of Thailand. I've lived in Thailand for two years now, and don't plan to visit the US for another three. Our coverage will cover just about anything inside Thailand, or if I wish will pay up to one million baht to evacuate to the US in case of serious illness.

Barry

[wimster]

Barry; I don't think BUPA evacuates you to the US in case of serious illness(when you live in TH). They might evacuate you from the US to TH. Would be smart as costs would be considerable lower here.

Still I think that the number of complaints about BUPA is WAY to high...

Checking around I added another half a dozen. Found out a lot of (negative) insight from an agent that used to sell BUPA but had too many complaints from customers and changed to another local company.

Barry; but what if you or a family member get seriously sick while visiting your origin country or travelling in Western world? Heart transplant, a month in hospital after accident, brain surgery or whatever? This can easily cost USD 100k in the US or EU. How much will the Emerald (Thai) cover of that?

Insurance for me is not to get a $500 bill covered, it is for avoiding a financial blow in an already difficult situation of illness/accident.

Cheers!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Fire,

The Emerald service has world wide coverage. I'm from the US, but really n ot concerned about coverage outside of Thailand. I've lived in Thailand for two years now, and don't plan to visit the US for another three. Our coverage will cover just about anything inside Thailand, or if I wish will pay up to one million baht to evacuate to the US in case of serious illness.

Barry

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Firefan]

Ah Taxexile (love the name!) That explains! You have gotten the brand new policy then! THat is the changes I heard about. I will ask for the latest info. Cheers!

A few things: their policy does NOT cover worldwide for an unlimited number of days. Actually only 90 days. You need to buy extra modules for more days up to max of 210 days.

i renewed my policy last week and was told that since july this year , the worldwide cover is unlimited and they have removed out patient cover.

maybe thats just the policy i chose , i cant remember the title of it.

it's also cheaper (slightly) than last year.

i think as renewals are done the policies will , as firefan suggests , be modified.

[Firefan]

Barry; yeah for Thailand cover I agree the emerald cover will be just fine. I travel a lot and need that higher cover. Cheers!

Barry; but what if you or a family member get seriously sick while visiting your origin country or travelling in Western world? Heart transplant, a month in hospital after accident, brain surgery or whatever? This can easily cost USD 100k in the US or EU. How much will the Emerald (Thai) cover of that?

Insurance for me is not to get a $500 bill covered, it is for avoiding a financial blow in an already difficult situation of illness/accident.

Cheers!

Fire,

The Emerald service has world wide coverage. I'm from the US, but really n ot concerned about coverage outside of Thailand. I've lived in Thailand for two years now, and don't plan to visit the US for another three. Our coverage will cover just about anything inside Thailand, or if I wish will pay up to one million baht to evacuate to the US in case of serious illness.

Barry

[rainman]

very interesting thread, i just finished reading through it all. i was actually at the BUPA office in silom today to pick up some brochures regarding insurance. i got their highest package, the platinum plan and just reviewed it tonight ...my wife and my would fall in the 21-25 category, paying around 20,000 per person and year for a 5M baht coverage. after reading the bad reviews i'm not sure i want to go with them...but does anyone know if their annual subscription fees that are quoted are payable monthly too or if BUPA requires you to pay the whole year up front? i should have asked them, i know...

[wimster]

Pay one year in advance. And your money is gone....

very interesting thread, i just finished reading through it all. i was actually at the BUPA office in silom today to pick up some brochures regarding insurance. i got their highest package, the platinum plan and just reviewed it tonight ...my wife and my would fall in the 21-25 category, paying around 20,000 per person and year for a 5M baht coverage. after reading the bad reviews i'm not sure i want to go with them...but does anyone know if their annual subscription fees that are quoted are payable monthly too or if BUPA requires you to pay the whole year up front? i should have asked them, i know...

[ray23]

Well for what it is worth my experience wiht Bupa hasn't been bad. Paying thier fee is less then waht I paid copayment on for both my wife and I, in comparison to my medical insurance in the states that my retirement paid part of. That only covered me.

I really doubt in the insurance field you going to find anything that is perfect.

[rainman]

i just called BUPA and they confirmed that it has to be paid 1 year in advance, unless you have a credit card with thai farmers bank, then you can pay every 3 months.