Hi All,

I'm 57, planning to retire in LOS this year. Any suggestions for getting medical insurance? I'm Canadian, and would be covered under my govt. insurance plan BUT since I have severed my residency with Canada (for tax reasons) I am not entitled to that. So I suppose I'm in a similar boat to U.S. citizens (i. e. need to buy private insurance). What are the best options?

Any suggestions welcome!

Thanks,

TG

If you don't have any preexisting conditions, you're in luck and at your age you can buy coverage for Thailand from many companies. If you DO have such conditions, expect problems, either denials of coverage or exclusions of coverage, sometimes shocking ones, such as high blood pressure excluding coverage for all heart problems.

As a member of Thai Visa you can use the services of Thai Visa Brokers. For details and an on-line quote please go HERE

If you don't have any preexisting conditions, you're in luck and at your age you can buy coverage for Thailand from many companies. If you DO have such conditions, expect problems, either denials of coverage or exclusions of coverage, sometimes shocking ones, such as high blood pressure excluding coverage for all heart problems.

Thanks - I don't think I have any. Any suggested companies, and any idea of premiums? I'd probably be looking for coverage for the whole world, or as wide as possible, as I'd probably be traveling a fair bit.

TG

Here is the website for BUPA Health Insurance, a big health insurer here in Thailand. You can compare their rates with others. www.bupa.co.th

Get a job w/ a work permit, join the Thai Social Insurance system, quit, and thereafter pay about B5000 per year for health insurance at a designated Thai gov't hospital of your choice.

Get a job w/ a work permit, join the Thai Social Insurance system, quit, and thereafter pay about B5000 per year for health insurance at a designated Thai gov't hospital of your choice.

Can you do this at ANY age?

Get a job w/ a work permit, join the Thai Social Insurance system, quit, and thereafter pay about B5000 per year for health insurance at a designated Thai gov't hospital of your choice.

Can you do this at ANY age?

I believe you need to join before you are 60, the normal retirement age here.

Get a job w/ a work permit, join the Thai Social Insurance system, quit, and thereafter pay about B5000 per year for health insurance at a designated Thai gov't hospital of your choice.

Can you do this at ANY age?

I believe you need to join before you are 60, the normal retirement age here.

Thanks - but how long could you stay in the system once you're out of a job? Wouldn't your right to coverage expire if you no longer have a permit, being farang?

TG

Here is the website for BUPA Health Insurance, a big health insurer here in Thailand. You can compare their rates with others. www.bupa.co.th

Thanks! I'll check them out. If you need to be covered internationally (for travel outside Thailand) do you get that as part of the medical policy or do you need to buy separate travel insurance? Any suggestions on that?

TG

Here is the website for BUPA Health Insurance, a big health insurer here in Thailand. You can compare their rates with others. www.bupa.co.th

Thanks! I'll check them out. If you need to be covered internationally (for travel outside Thailand) do you get that as part of the medical policy or do you need to buy separate travel insurance? Any suggestions on that?

TG

The Option i used was 2 fold diving insurance and also complete medical insurance. For this i used DAN Divers alert Network.

There gold policy offers worldwide 365 day a year coverage. It may be an option.

Ian

Here is the website for BUPA Health Insurance, a big health insurer here in Thailand. You can compare their rates with others. www.bupa.co.th

Thanks! I'll check them out. If you need to be covered internationally (for travel outside Thailand) do you get that as part of the medical policy or do you need to buy separate travel insurance? Any suggestions on that?

TG

BUPA's Platinum plan (their most comprehensive) covers you worldwide with the exception of the US.

Another option, depending ion how much traveling you do, is to take out travelers insurance.

I have BUPA Platinum and then I take out traveler's insurance (Global Nomads) whenever I go to the US.

One advantage of BUPA is that they guarantee lifetime enrollment if you enrol by a certain age, I think before 60, but it might be lower than that so double-check.

Important piece of advice: get high end coverage (at least for hospitalization) right off the bat. Once you have had a claim/developed a medical condition, your ability to upgrade the level of coverage is constrained.

Do not underestimate the costs of health care in thailand, they are considerable and rising, especially for care in private hospitals.

Local insurance policies are comparatively expensive for what they offer, possibly because of a small member base - no economy of scale. Most Thais are covered through Thai Social Security or the "gold card" system.

Get a job w/ a work permit, join the Thai Social Insurance system, quit, and thereafter pay about B5000 per year for health insurance at a designated Thai gov't hospital of your choice.

Can you do this at ANY age?

I believe you need to join before you are 60, the normal retirement age here.

Thanks - but how long could you stay in the system once you're out of a job? Wouldn't your right to coverage expire if you no longer have a permit, being farang?

TG

No, you are thinking like a farang thinks about how Thais think about farang.

After your work permit expires, you can make payments at 7-11 or authorize automatic withdrawal from your bank account. But you have to set this up with the SSO office; otherwise, your coverage will indeed be canceled.