Foreigner And Medical Care In Thailand.

[SamSipEt]

All sounds very confused and typically Thai with different answers coming in from different directions.

Just to add to it all if you are married to a Thai Goverment employee then you can also join the 30 baht scheme because part of her employement package is that her spouse has "free" health care as does she.

Well...yes and there are options too. GF's brother is an officer in the government (although he works in private sector to confuse things more). He has his mother on the plan with him although they don't use government hospitals. He opted for a higher deduction from his government salary to use Sripat. So nothing is black and white here.

Very true.

Perhaps the best option is to use your 30 baht card (if you are fortunate enough to be eligble for one) for relatively minor stuff but have a private health plan to cover more important things. Like most things in life you get what you pay for.

Me? No 30 baht card but a private plan which, like all insurance schemes, I hope never to use.

[dutchisaan]

Thanks to the OP for starting this very useful Topic--and huge thanks to NancyL, Sheryl and all others for giving us the lowdown--I have recently insured my daughter with Private Health cover and now need to get myself sorted--sure as heck will be needing cover someday [ and I am definitely far from rich enough to pay should things get nasty]

I started the process off getting a private medical insurrance about two weeks ago. Had to go to a clinnic, did the test, and yesterday they called me that everything was ok. They willl bring the paperwork on Thuesday or Wednesday.

Now I am good insured for about 2100 BTh a month, including private hospitals.

In the west you pay also for your insurance, so why do people think it is free here?

[Frank James]

A couple of years ago my wife and I agreed to pay for removal from the morgue at Suan Doak, and transport and cremation at a wat in Mae Rim, of an American who had died, and was left unclaimed. We didn't know the man, but my wife said it would be "good tomboon" to do this.

His body had lain (laid, lay?) in the filled-to-capacity hospital morgue for several months. The American Consulate had contacted next of kin in US, but according to them, the family could not or would not help. The hospital showed us a very large bill the man had incurred over many months of treatment, and asked if we might want to pay it, but I declined. They told us that their morgue contained bodies of many farangs, of many nationalities. This man was the only American at the time.

It was a good experience to do this. Any Euro, Aus/NZ, CDN, UK who don't like the thought of your countryman not getting a proper sendoff, Suan Doak would love to meet you.

[tango]

#20 Re:

"...It is something that should be purchased as soon as you arrive, when you're still fairly young and healthy, so you can wait out the normal 2-5 year restriction on excluding pre-existing conditions."

Is it true that pre-existing conditions have a time lapse in their restriction, apart from chronic illnesses?

If so it has never been applied to me with decades having been insured with Blue Cross. I had a Meniscectomy in college 40 years ago as a result of twisting my knee on take down during rugby. I've since had a long military career, teaching career and skied/ jogged for years without problems.

Because the initial insurance form wanted disclosure of any pre-existing conditions, I mentioned the Meniscectomy. Blue Cross and others continue to exclude any and all joint coverage despite this having occurred two-to-four decades previously - two decades when first taking out their medical coverage, to the present.

Insurance agencies seem to consider all pre-existing conditions as continuing. Any thoughts?

Cheers