Baby In Hospital. Looking For Other Parents That Can Recommend Insurance.

[Guts]

Hi everybody,

My baby got a bacterial infection and landed in the hospital a couple of times now.

I think it is time for me to look for an insurance.

I am looking for a local insurance company. Who has experience with those local insurance,

and what do you recommend checking? (I am located in Bangkok).

I am not looking for brokers asking me to fill in their quote form. I am looking for parents

that have good experiences with local insurance and can recommend them.

If it is not allowed to post contact info on the forum, please PM me.

Thanks a ton!

[dave111223]

Generally I found that Thai insurance for babies is very high (higher than adult insurance). Minimum about 16,000THB per year; this does not cover outpatient treatment/drugs or vaccines etc...

My insurance was about 12,000THB per year, and my wife's was something like 14,000THB per year, Plus then 16,000 for baby = 42,000 per year.

I decided to get a "family plan" from what used to be "Thaivisa Insurance" (now http://aainsure.net/), which was 32,000 per year for all 3 of us, and includes a way higher coverage limit. However does not include any of the random payouts that Thai insurance tends to cover (lose a finger then they bung you 25K etc...?!).

Now that we have a second baby the cost will go up to about 36,000 per year for all 4 of us. Which would have been about 58,000 if i'd got 4 individual insurance plans.

Any additional babies will not increase the cost of the insurance (so if you plan on having a big family a family plan is a must) And kids are covered under the plan until they reach 20 years old.

Note that i have not yet used the insurance to pay out on anything as no one has gotten sick (hospitalized) yet, so I can't attest to how good they are at paying out.

Edited November 25, 2011 by dave111223

[fletchsmile]

Generally I found that Thai insurance for babies is very high (higher than adult insurance). Minimum about 16,000THB per year; this does not cover outpatient treatment/drugs or vaccines etc...

My insurance was about 12,000THB per year, and my wife's was something like 14,000THB per year, Plus then 16,000 for baby = 42,000 per year.

I decided to get a "family plan" from what used to be "Thaivisa Insurance" (now http://aainsure.net/), which was 32,000 per year for all 3 of us, and includes a way higher coverage limit. However does not include any of the random payouts that Thai insurance tends to cover (lose a finger then they bung you 25K etc...?!).

Now that we have a second baby the cost will go up to about 36,000 per year for all 4 of us. Which would have been about 58,000 if i'd got 4 individual insurance plans.

Any additional babies will not increase the cost of the insurance (so if you plan on having a big family a family plan is a must) And kids are covered under the plan until they reach 20 years old.

Note that i have not yet used the insurance to pay out on anything as no one has gotten sick (hospitalized) yet, so I can't attest to how good they are at paying out.

Dave,

What are your coverage limits on that?

Whenever I've looked for coverage levels I want on expat insurance, it's rarely below THB 100k total premium for family of 4.

Thai policies seem to max out around at relatively low levels of coverage and seem expensive to me. I'd prefer to save the money each year, as hospital bills for most things are manageable. This year has been one of the worse ones ever for paying out, but still below what I'd have paid for premiums. Am always on the lookout tho for something that makes sense.

To OP,

I looked at Bupa and the Thai Visa one, ACS Asia. Neither seemed to fit what I needed.

[dave111223]

Dave,

What are your coverage limits on that?

Whenever I've looked for coverage levels I want on expat insurance, it's rarely below THB 100k total premium for family of 4.

Thai policies seem to max out around at relatively low levels of coverage and seem expensive to me. I'd prefer to save the money each year, as hospital bills for most things are manageable. This year has been one of the worse ones ever for paying out, but still below what I'd have paid for premiums. Am always on the lookout tho for something that makes sense.

To OP,

I looked at Bupa and the Thai Visa one, ACS Asia. Neither seemed to fit what I needed.

The limit is 500,000USD. Inpatient coverage only.

The plan is actually ASC Expat plan (but purchased through Thai visa insurance).

It's only available for expats (Husband or Wife); also the premiums are quite low because I'm 27 and wife is 29. Once you get over 50 years old the premiums are about triple that.

Edited November 26, 2011 by dave111223

[ludditeman]

Thai baby or foreign baby?

Thai citizen get free hospital treatment, and it's not bad at all.

[Guts]

Thai baby or foreign baby?

Thai citizen get free hospital treatment, and it's not bad at all.

Thai baby.

The free hospital treatment is highly dependent on which hospital you

are allowed to use free. If I am not mistaken that is only in the area

where your kid is registered in the actual Tabien Baan. If you are elsewhere

you still would have to pay (or this is what I understood).

Thanks everyone for your replies.

[fletchsmile]

Dave,

What are your coverage limits on that?

Whenever I've looked for coverage levels I want on expat insurance, it's rarely below THB 100k total premium for family of 4.

Thai policies seem to max out around at relatively low levels of coverage and seem expensive to me. I'd prefer to save the money each year, as hospital bills for most things are manageable. This year has been one of the worse ones ever for paying out, but still below what I'd have paid for premiums. Am always on the lookout tho for something that makes sense.

To OP,

I looked at Bupa and the Thai Visa one, ACS Asia. Neither seemed to fit what I needed.

The limit is 500,000USD. Inpatient coverage only.

The plan is actually ASC Expat plan (but purchased through Thai visa insurance).

It's only available for expats (Husband or Wife); also the premiums are quite low because I'm 27 and wife is 29. Once you get over 50 years old the premiums are about triple that.

Thanks Dave, see where you're coming from now. I had a similar set of info from them. Ages are different and I was also looking at module 2 which is IPD + OPD.

Do you know if IPD covers day surgery, i.e operation on day but don't stay overnight? There wasn't a whole load of info with the quotes etc. I think OPD is generally a waste of money for routine things like coughs, colds etc, but worth it for big items such as operation

As you say looks a reasonable package. I may ask them again for a quote based on family too, as I just added all the individual people

[ludditeman]

Thai baby or foreign baby?

Thai citizen get free hospital treatment, and it's not bad at all.

Thai baby.

The free hospital treatment is highly dependent on which hospital you

are allowed to use free. If I am not mistaken that is only in the area

where your kid is registered in the actual Tabien Baan. If you are elsewhere

you still would have to pay (or this is what I understood).

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Very easy to register in another area (I did if for all my lot)

1,000bht per registration to a local householder who was more than happy to put everyone in their house book

(second person I asked)

I believe that children under the age of 5 can be taken to any Thai government hospital for free treatment.

Only older then 5 are restricted to their 'local' hospital.

[dave111223]

Do you know if IPD covers day surgery, i.e operation on day but don't stay overnight?

I don't think so; but any private hospital will definitely be willing to admit you overnight for any surgery. Thai private hospital love to admit patients overnight, even if it's only to stick a bag of water in their arm ($$$).

[elektrified]

Forget the government hospitals. You can get great insurance for only 1,000 per month. My child has a policy with Allianz. Pays for everything in all the best hospitals. No questions asked.