Looking After My Wife'S Parents After She Moves O/S

[Latindancer]

My wife is a government-employed teacher, and because of this her parents are entitled to free medical care in any government-run hospital. These hospitals give a reasonably good standard of care. Her father is over 70, her mother approaching it, and both are in good health. However when she moves o/s permanently to be with me, she is quitting her job, so mum and dad will need some kind of health insurance.

Can anyone make a suggestion regarding this, please ? I'm not sure about the various levels / standards of health care in Thailand, but in the West, private care is the best, and public is the worst. Where does the government system fit in, in Thailand ?

[David48]

Hi there OP. Just trying to expand on what you have written above.

If your wife has any siblings do they intend to contribute to the care of your wife's parents?

[Banzai99]

Wouldn't it be best to ask your wife ?

She is a government employed teacher, she is willing to give up her pension and all the benefits that go with being a government employee, a big step.

Surely she has looked into the implications of these actions.

[SlyAnimal]

Yeah your wife would give the best reccommendation imo

As even if someone on the forums suggests one which provides better service, and is cheaper as well, if your wife (or her parents) prefer another provider instead, then you're better off going with their option, regardless of their logic behind choosing it (They might really like one which provides a terrible level of cover, but has a lottery on whether you can maybe win a prize or something lol)

[draftvader]

It will depend on your location too. We're lucky enough to be located close enough to Siriraj to call it our local hospital, but in other locations you would be better advised to go private. Ask about in your area.

[zzaa09]

Hi there OP. Just trying to expand on what you have written above.

If your wife has any siblings do they intend to contribute to the care of your wife's parents?

I wouldn't guarantee any such familial extensions as it applies to this generation...

Unfortunate as it may seem.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

To answer your question, there are good public hospitals but they charge more than the minimum rates for decent service, reduced wait times etc.

Private hospitals aren't necessarily "better" from a strictly medical POV (but often are), many base their business model on comfort and appearances.

Private insurance is not that expensive - personally I recommend looking for a policy that covers disasters - high maximums, high deductibles, and just pay out of pocket for routine stuff.

If your wife is overseas, the other family members will have to step into the breach for actual hands-on care assistance, so IMO it's only fair if your wife wants to cover the private insurance, as I said it's nothing like the costs back home.

Hi there OP. Just trying to expand on what you have written above. If your wife has any siblings do they intend to contribute to the care of your wife's parents?

Much less likely when one of them supposedly hit the jackpot and married a farang.

[Latindancer]

Actually, my wife's sister just married another Westerner. I know him a little. She is my wife's only other sibling with a good job. However as the parents' hospital cover is currently provided by virtue of her being a government teacher, and they are losing this because she is coming to live with me in Australia, he may not be too keen to front up with money for health insurance. His wife has however been sending money every month, and this will no doubt continue when she too moves to Australia later this year.

What I am wondering is what level of care / support government hospitals in Thailand provide. I can't let her parents be at the mercy of a public hospital (which would probably send them home to die of cancer as they have with two penniless relatives already ), but at the same time, I will be on a lowish wage and desperately trying to save money in Australia, so I don't want to buy private health cover which may be expensive.

Perhaps I should, as two people just suggested, ask my wife to research and find a health fund giving the same level of care.

[mca]

I definitely stand to be corrected but if your wife's dad is over 70 could he actually get private medical insurance?

[David48]

Hi there Latindancer.

You might remember me from advices given in the Visa section and know then that I play with a straight bat so ...

All the answers given above are circling the question that you have asked and trying to provide a different prospective.

Maybe the General Forum is not the best area to ask this question?

There is the health, body and medicine Forum http://www.thaivisa....y-and-medicine/

Or the family and children Forum http://www.thaivisa....y-and-children/

My thoughts on the additional information that you have given is that let your wife put pressure on her sister for a contribution from their side also.

Maybe the answer is that medical insurance may not be the best option (or as mca points out, maybe not an option) and that have the operation conducted in a Government Hospital might be an OK option with the upgrade to a private room after the procedure has been completed.

Lot's of people talk about this when having babies in Thailand and the principle might applicable to your situation.

Nice that you are thinking about the welfare of the out-laws ...

[BigJohnnyBKK]

What I am wondering is what level of care / support government hospitals in Thailand provide. I can't let her parents be at the mercy of a public hospital (which would probably send them home to die of cancer as they have with two penniless relatives already ), but at the same time, I will be on a lowish wage and desperately trying to save money in Australia, so I don't want to buy private health cover which may be expensive.

Perhaps I should, as two people just suggested, ask my wife to research and find a health fund giving the same level of care.

At a good government hospital, the level of care can be just fine, but they will need to be assured of getting more money than just what the public scheme covers, and of course that's easiest done with insurance. So, IMO that's the first thing to investigate, and if it is available, I don't think you'll find it expensive - revisit my specifics on this above. I don't know what a "health fund" is, other than this.

Otherwise you'll be "self-insuring" and you and your BIL should be setting some proportion of your incomes aside for this purpose, perhaps agreeing to some pre-determined ratio based on your relative incomes?

However it will be down to the sibling(s) remaining here to actually take responsibility to ensure good care, and of course that requires trust. Alternatively one of the two Aussie sisters would fly back here to handle things.

Personally I'd recommend stepping back a bit on this, other than providing the overall framework and of course being the source of funds, let her family take the lead in planning.

My family have all executed "living wills" where we specify that no heroic/expensive measures are to be used to prolong our lives once we've lost consciousness for an extended period of time. Things are much less expensive here, but obviously high-tech can wipe out multiple family's finances with little ultimate benefit - "sending them home to die" can in certain circumstances be a perfectly rational thing to do.

[Latindancer]

My thoughts on the additional information that you have given is that let your wife put pressure on her sister for a contribution from their side also.

Maybe the answer is that medical insurance may not be the best option (or as mca points out, maybe not an option) and that have the operation conducted in a Government Hospital might be an OK option with the upgrade to a private room after the procedure has been completed.

There is no operation due. This is just trying to avoid the sometimes extreme expense of possible future hospital stays.

Thanks for your input, David and others. I had forgotten that in over 70s it is difficult to get insurance.

I'll talk to the sister (or better still, her husband ! )

Personally I'd recommend stepping back a bit on this, other than providing the overall framework and of course being the source of funds, let her family take the lead in planning.

And yes....I might take a step back.

[scorecard]

My thoughts on the additional information that you have given is that let your wife put pressure on her sister for a contribution from their side also.

Maybe the answer is that medical insurance may not be the best option (or as mca points out, maybe not an option) and that have the operation conducted in a Government Hospital might be an OK option with the upgrade to a private room after the procedure has been completed.

There is no operation due. This is just trying to avoid the sometimes extreme expense of possible future hospital stays.

Thanks for your input, David and others. I had forgotten that in over 70s it is difficult to get insurance.

I'll talk to the sister (or better still, her husband ! )

Personally I'd recommend stepping back a bit on this, other than providing the overall framework and of course being the source of funds, let her family take the lead in planning.

And yes....I might take a step back.

I support the idea of you stepping back and let the wife and her family make the decisions.

Why? My Thai son had BUPA cover for many years and he is very familiar with how typcal 'western' health plans work, but he has recently changed to something quite different to cover himself, his Thai wife and two young children (all born in Thailand).

They found a 'package' from Muang Thai which they pay every three months, and if there are no claims they get a part refund of the premiums (every three months). Please don't ask me for futher details because I don't really understand the whole process. My son says there's a similar 'package' available from the Government Savings Bank.

But whether any of this is available for older Thai folks is of course another good question

Good luck and I admire you and your wife for taking the trouble to get it right.

[soi41]

To the OP. Even if your wife is insured via the government, I am sure that her healthcare are in the hands of a private insurancecompany. And I am certain, even after finished working, she can continue to pay her monthly premium to the company and that way assure her parents the same coverage as they have today. Check it !

[letitbe]

if you manage to get a Thai company to insure the cover will not be enough for any major needs and probably only cover up to 100,000 or if lucky 200,000 a year maximum and their will probably be a clause only claims over say 20,000 baht a time allowed or in other words a large excess. If you have this amount almost certainly better to just pay bills as you go along (if you trust them to tell truth) or just put this amount in gold or Thai stocks or other investments which can be used if needed to pay medical bills. Always cheaper to self insure if you can especially if cover is limited which is one reason none of my family have any health insurance and in any case medical costs here are a fraction of that in west and a tiny fraction of that in USA

[letitbe]

They found a 'package' from Muang Thai which they pay every three months, and if there are no claims they get a part refund of the premiums (every three months). Please don't ask me for futher details because I don't really understand the whole process. My son says there's a similar 'package' available from the Government Savings Bank.

But whether any of this is available for older Thai folks is of course another good question

TO MANY QUOTES SO HERES PART OF POST IM REPLYING TO

Maybe the answer is that medical insurance may not be the best option (or as mca points out, maybe not an option) and that have the operation conducted in a Government Hospital might be an OK option with the upgrade to a private room after the procedure has been completed.

[TommoPhysicist]

There are several issues here, some you have wrong.

My wife is a government-employed teacher.

These jobs are hard to come by, usually for life, and give many benefits. You should think very carefully before allowing/encouraging her to give up this job.

and because of this her parents are entitled to free medical care in any government-run hospital. This is just wrong, all Thais are entitled to free medical care in government run hospitals. Teachers and their families (that includes you) are provided with a very cheap private insurance policy that allows them to 'go private' in government hospitals (and some private hospitals). Value to her parents (as Thais) almost nil, value to you (as foreigner) much higher.

Think carefully what your wife will be doing in Oz, looking after you is unlikely to be satisfying or interesting for her in the long term, and often leads to marital problems. As someone depending entirely on you (at your insistence), a divorce settlement (god forbid) would most likely be substantial.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I find it hard to believe that anyone is recommending the OP decide which country to live in based on things like job security and divorce laws, surely more to life than that?

But if your wife isn't familiar with life in Oz, I would recommend her waiting until she's in a position to take a block of time off without risking her job and see how she likes it, especially in the winter if you're from the south. Would be bad if she couldn't stand it and you guys had to come back here and she were out job hunting from scratch. . .

To the OP. Even if your wife is insured via the government, I am sure that her healthcare are in the hands of a private insurancecompany. And I am certain, even after finished working, she can continue to pay her monthly premium to the company and that way assure her parents the same coverage as they have today. Check it !

I've heard of employer-provided health insurance covering the employee's spouse and children but never parents, are you sure?

if you manage to get a Thai company to insure the cover will not be enough for any major needs and probably only cover up to 100,000 or if lucky 200,000 a year maximum and their will probably be a clause only claims over say 20,000 baht a time allowed or in other words a large excess. If you have this amount almost certainly better to just pay bills as you go along (if you trust them to tell truth) or just put this amount in gold or Thai stocks or other investments which can be used if needed to pay medical bills. Always cheaper to self insure if you can especially if cover is limited which is one reason none of my family have any health insurance and in any case medical costs here are a fraction of that in west and a tiny fraction of that in USA

Usually one can shop around to find a suitable health insurance policy that meets your specs, you just have to be willing to pay the price. I've seen purely private policies that have a very high deductible coupled with adequate upper limits, so one effectively self-insures for routine stuff, say THB 100K and below, but is covered for the major issues like head injuries cancer etc (knock on wood).

Possibly this is different for such elderly people.

[mca]

I checked with my wife yesterday evening about her mum's insurance as I know her mum was in private hospital recently after slipping and breaking her ankle and claimed fo it ( she's 71). My wife said her mum couldn't get cover as she's over 70 for health insurance but insurance companies would offer accident coverage which she has.

I'm not saying it's a cast iron certanty that there isn't health cover for the over-70s but my wife said her broker did her best but no luck.

[Heng]

Sometimes you really just need to be self insured (read: have significant life savings) if you want to cut through the gov't hospital red tape. Often some of the best doctors are in many of them, but there simply are too many people who are in line to use their services. Have an uncle who does a CT scan and some other check that I'm not clear about every 3-4 months to make sure his liver cancer is still in check at Siriraj. The appointments are always on a Thursday... seems to be when all the 'paying patients' are lined up. Had one instance when they had to slip him in on a Friday and it was seriously all people with ranks or titles on that day.... and he mentioned after some chatting with some of the friendlier folks that day, apparently there are only 3 days for these particular procedures that is subsidized for the 'rest of the people.' So a day for a few thousand paying folks, two-three days for the important folks, and three days for the other few hundred thousand who are flying economy. Again, this was just one section and department but I think you can extrapolate trend wise.