Health Insurance For 70 S

[jocko]

As there is two threads going on right now about health and health insurance I wonder can anybody give me a idea for insurance for a 70yr old man

Apart from travel insurance no insurance with Thai insurance company .

Pre ,conditions.

Enlarged prostrate on tablets for years.

Slightly high blood pressure on min dose tablet.

No other problems.

I don't expect a spot on price just a approximate.

All advice welcome

[Sheryl]

Sorry but I am not aware of any, all the policies I am familiar with stop enrolling at a certain age, usually before 65 and certainly before 70. And none cover pre-existing.

I'm transferring this to the insurance forum just in case there are options I am unaware of.

Otherwise your choices are:

- self insure (and don't underestimate - 5 mill baht at least)

- if you have health cover in your home country then a smaller level of self-insure plus a medical evacuation policy through travel insurance

- if any any chance you are American look into the various Medicare plus policies in the US as some of them offer worldwide cover. (May still run into exclusion of pre-existing conditions).

Whatever you do, don't fail to do something as you are only going to get older and less healthy with time (sad but true, for all of us).

[jocko]

Sorry but I am not aware of any, all the policies I am familiar with stop enrolling at a certain age, usually before 65 and certainly before 70. And none cover pre-existing.

I'm transferring this to the insurance forum just in case there are options I am unaware of.

Otherwise your choices are:

- self insure (and don't underestimate - 5 mill baht at least)

- if you have health cover in your home country then a smaller level of self-insure plus a medical evacuation policy through travel insurance

- if any any chance you are American look into the various Medicare plus policies in the US as some of them offer worldwide cover. (May still run into exclusion of pre-existing conditions).

Whatever you do, don't fail to do something as you are only going to get older and less healthy with time (sad but true, for all of us).

Thanks for info that's what I thought I am from the UK and not in Thailand permanently yet I have 90 day travel ins but that won't do me if I come here for good I have heard that some insurance company will take me on but it would be expensive no doubt.

I am resigned to the fact that I will not cut myself of from the UK and continue to pay my taxes and hope I can make it back for medical treatment if I need it lucky I keep in good health and barring accidents I will have to manage I am realistic I hope

[cooked]

In my opinion it won't be worth trying to find an insurance after your 65th birthday, and your preconditions cut you off from a lot of options. (I know, been there). Try and get a global repatriation insurance, not an easy option as everything you have in Thailand will be left behind for 'a certain period of time', but I have something similar as a backup. I plan on dying here, but you never know what state of mind you will be in when you hear the dread 'C' word or whatever.

While thinking about insurance, try to think also about how you see your demise. Many people don't think this through and find that they have no choices.

[jocko]

In my opinion it won't be worth trying to find an insurance after your 65th birthday, and your preconditions cut you off from a lot of options. (I know, been there). Try and get a global repatriation insurance, not an easy option as everything you have in Thailand will be left behind for 'a certain period of time', but I have something similar as a backup. I plan on dying here, but you never know what state of mind you will be in when you hear the dread 'C' word or whatever.

While thinking about insurance, try to think also about how you see your demise. Many people don't think this through and find that they have no choices.

Thats bloody good abvice i will think about that in general i have been bomb proof my family have been long lived i can still do a days work as a pipe welder i am thin by nature and feel fine but tomorrow is another day

What i have here stays here

I just dont think about old age but when you are the oldest guy in the pub it comes home to you

[cooked]

In my opinion it won't be worth trying to find an insurance after your 65th birthday, and your preconditions cut you off from a lot of options. (I know, been there). Try and get a global repatriation insurance, not an easy option as everything you have in Thailand will be left behind for 'a certain period of time', but I have something similar as a backup. I plan on dying here, but you never know what state of mind you will be in when you hear the dread 'C' word or whatever.

While thinking about insurance, try to think also about how you see your demise. Many people don't think this through and find that they have no choices.

Thats bloody good abvice i will think about that in general i have been bomb proof my family have been long lived i can still do a days work as a pipe welder i am thin by nature and feel fine but tomorrow is another day

What i have here stays here

I just dont think about old age but when you are the oldest guy in the pub it comes home to you

Yes I remember taking my old dad to his favourite pub years ago. I now understand the look on his face as the bar man said ' hi, not seen you for a bit'. (Three years). Both my parents smoked like chimneys and drank like fish and got to over 80. I still work at the age of 65, but merely to give myself something to do and think about from day to day. I feel sorry for the poor sods living in an apartment in Pattaya waiting for their bar to open.

[diddums]

Anyone know what the insurance premiums hike up to if you are with a company that keeps you on after 65/70yo ?

[cooked]

Anyone know what the insurance premiums hike up to if you are with a company that keeps you on after 65/70yo ?

I took up the cheapo cheapo version with 'Simply Healthy' a product of Thai Life. I will have a bit more money next year and will be able to increase my cover.

Age 64 (as I was when I took the insurance for the first time): ฿10 850. A year!

Ages 66 - 70 : ฿15 154 (renewal only)

71 - 75: ฿21 698

76 - 80: ฿32 025

What happens after that I don't know, looks like I will be without insurance again, affordable or not.

These increases of 50% , 100% and 300% over the original premium are typical of other companies that I looked at.

[AAInsuranceBrokers]

There are a few – not many admittedly – companies who will insure you after age 65/70 for life. In fact one which is Thai based can be started > 80 years and can even cover pre-existing conditions ! However these are obviously not cheap but we shall be happy to offer individual quotations if anyone is interested ?

http://www.aainsure.net/email/get_quote_form.php

[diddums]

There are a few – not many admittedly – companies who will insure you after age 65/70 for life. In fact one which is Thai based can be started > 80 years and can even cover pre-existing conditions ! However these are obviously not cheap but we shall be happy to offer individual quotations if anyone is interested ?

http://www.aainsure.net/email/get_quote_form.php

Give us a ball park...

[rayfork]

I took out Medical Insurance last October - aged 71, with AXA International - 300 sterling per month, inpatient only. Made a couple of small claims recently and it's been a nightmare dealing with them - broken promises, lost documents, lost bank details etc etc. Now decided to leave this scheme and self-finance for future treatment.

[cooked]

I took out Medical Insurance last October - aged 71, with AXA International - 300 sterling per month, inpatient only. Made a couple of small claims recently and it's been a nightmare dealing with them - broken promises, lost documents, lost bank details etc etc. Now decided to leave this scheme and self-finance for future treatment.

Sorry about that. I look on my insurance certificate as just that - I will be admitted to hospital and not required to pay cash up front. I don't think I could afford 300 quid a month though. You may find yourself paying expensive insurance until you are 80 and then find yourself priced out of the program, or refused payment because of preconditions.

I try to self insure, the ฿800 000.- required for visa extensions seems to be a good sum to aim for.

Edited March 15, 2013 by cooked

[stevenl]

I took out Medical Insurance last October - aged 71, with AXA International - 300 sterling per month, inpatient only. Made a couple of small claims recently and it's been a nightmare dealing with them - broken promises, lost documents, lost bank details etc etc. Now decided to leave this scheme and self-finance for future treatment.

Sorry about that. I look on my insurance certificate as just that - I will be admitted to hospital and not required to pay cash up front. I don't think I could afford 300 quid a month though. You may find yourself paying expensive insurance until you are 80 and then find yourself priced out of the program, or refused payment because of preconditions.

I try to self insure, the ฿800 000.- required for visa extensions seems to be a good sum to aim for.

One reasonable accident or illness and you're way over your 800.000 Baht.

[cooked]

Yes, thanks for that. Still better than paying for many years and finding yourself without cover.

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[nong38]

The bottom line is when you get to 60+ you are a bad risk to insurance companies, you may be told its no problem, the premiums will tell you its is every year. As you have already some problems that makes it more difficult as well, there will always be someone who will take your money but will not want to pay it out when needed.

Self Insure yourself if you coming full time, its difficult to put a price on wht that might be, but, I was told by a friend who had a friend having a heart by-pass in Pitsanulok a couple of years ago that the cost was 1.5m bht, so maybe you should be thinking in the region of 2-3m to be on the safe side, on the other hand you might die in your sleep with a bottle of Chang by your side!

Repatriation sounds good but if you have a problem its going to be at least a day to get back to blighty.

[cooked]

The bottom line is when you get to 60+ you are a bad risk to insurance companies, you may be told its no problem, the premiums will tell you its is every year. As you have already some problems that makes it more difficult as well, there will always be someone who will take your money but will not want to pay it out when needed.

Self Insure yourself if you coming full time, its difficult to put a price on wht that might be, but, I was told by a friend who had a friend having a heart by-pass in Pitsanulok a couple of years ago that the cost was 1.5m bht, so maybe you should be thinking in the region of 2-3m to be on the safe side, on the other hand you might die in your sleep with a bottle of Chang by your side!

Repatriation sounds good but if you have a problem its going to be at least a day to get back to blighty.

... if you are transportable...

[nong38]

The bottom line is when you get to 60+ you are a bad risk to insurance companies, you may be told its no problem, the premiums will tell you its is every year. As you have already some problems that makes it more difficult as well, there will always be someone who will take your money but will not want to pay it out when needed.

Self Insure yourself if you coming full time, its difficult to put a price on wht that might be, but, I was told by a friend who had a friend having a heart by-pass in Pitsanulok a couple of years ago that the cost was 1.5m bht, so maybe you should be thinking in the region of 2-3m to be on the safe side, on the other hand you might die in your sleep with a bottle of Chang by your side!

Repatriation sounds good but if you have a problem its going to be at least a day to get back to blighty.

... if you are transportable...

Exactly and if you can find someone to take you back, cant see an airline wanting to produce a stiffy on the flight can you?

[NoshowJones]

There are a few – not many admittedly – companies who will insure you after age 65/70 for life. In fact one which is Thai based can be started > 80 years and can even cover pre-existing conditions ! However these are obviously not cheap but we shall be happy to offer individual quotations if anyone is interested ?

http://www.aainsure.net/email/get_quote_form.php

Insurance companies are like banks, they are not interested in you in any way except how to get as much money from you as possible, and for as little return as possible. We are forced to use them and they know this. I hate and detest both of them.

[nong38]

I took out Medical Insurance last October - aged 71, with AXA International - 300 sterling per month, inpatient only. Made a couple of small claims recently and it's been a nightmare dealing with them - broken promises, lost documents, lost bank details etc etc. Now decided to leave this scheme and self-finance for future treatment.

AXA are indeed to be avoided. When I retired I had a lump sum and was sold through a third party a policy with them, I was told that there was a cooling off period, on reflection I went to the third party and told them I had decided I needed the money back, third party rang AXA and were told that AXA had just processed the policy. I told the third party to sort it out, get my money back and I did not expect to pay any exit charges. I only got my money back when the CEO of the the third part got involved. Do not get involved with AXA they are a nightmare.

[nong38]

Actually IMG's rates went down from 2012 to 2013. He will not have a non inflationary rate increase until 76 when he gets the option to switch to the Global Senior Plan which he can hold for life. As far as cost, no $561 a month is not cheap, then again life is not free either if he is looking for something that is cheap then perhaps he needs to find one of the local plans or move to a country with socialized medicine that includes indigent care for foreigners.

IMG - price $561 USD a month - Limited Pre-existing condition coverage - Obamacare qualified for Americans. You can apply online at www.siamequity.com/index-3.html.

You did not mention the age and 561$ a month is not cheap and will only go higher until either they or you bail out of the scheme.

You may be able to get a plan for life, its if you can afford the ever icreasing rates that determines whether you have a plan for life, that how they dump you, keep bumping up the rates until you bail out. Lifes a gamble.

[ghooper]

I also am a 70 year old and have just had a quote from AIA, who will insure you up to the age of 70.

Actually they gave me 3 quotes for 3 different levels of insurance ranging from 39,000 to 55,000

Baht per year. This is a fraction, about 25percent, of the quotes I was getting from the UK.

Check them out

[mandee]

FYI the gov hospitals here provide excellent treatment here which should not cost you ''an arm and a leg''. how appropriate !

During the last year I have had 5 ops including plastic surgery for skin cancers.

Also they are not looking for extra treatments.

[exeter]

I also am a 70 year old and have just had a quote from AIA, who will insure you up to the age of 70.

Actually they gave me 3 quotes for 3 different levels of insurance ranging from 39,000 to 55,000

Baht per year. This is a fraction, about 25percent, of the quotes I was getting from the UK.

Check them out

Have a good luck at what you are getting, I think you will find there maximum payouts on each level and maybe only one claim per specific illness. You might also find that in patient and out patient are seperate, look at the small print as always.

[exeter]

FYI the gov hospitals here provide excellent treatment here which should not cost you ''an arm and a leg''. how appropriate ! During the last year I have had 5 ops including plastic surgery for skin cancers. Also they are not looking for extra treatments.

I would tend to agree, I had an eye problem, they took pictures of eyes ( Carl Zeis equipment) I think the pictures cost me 500bts, they told me, laser surgery would not help and neither would removing cataracts improve my vision. Cataract removal was 6500 bts. E rays 200 bts. Gives you a few figures. From what I have seen the govt hospitals are just as good as the private ones, you might get treatment a bit quicker at a private one.

There was an early quote of a heart bi pass operation of 1.5m bt, that should be viewed in context with any insurance scheme, of course you may not need a heart bi pass, but, would the policy cover the cost?

[taqila]

I just purchased a policy today from a top Thai Life Insurance company that offers the Hospital and Accident insurance rider for ages up to 75 yrs. The life portion was not something i really wanted but combined with the Hospital and Accident riders the final price was the same I have been paying in at the best known Insurance agency in Pattaya for the past 3 years without the exclusions and the life insurance portion will not increase each year. Formerly I have been a licensed life and health general agent in the Western World and am very pleased with the professionalism and coverage provided in this policy that I purchased today for 30,000thb total for one year. I was paying 30,000 thb in Pattaya for a policy that I had to purchase before turning 65 and in that policy everything that was of concern to me was an exclusion in that policy (such eyes, retina & cataract, prostrate, cardiac, joints, arthritis, etc etc. etc.) and I am in very good health now without any severe pre-existing conditions, plus the worst part of that Pattaya issued policy was that i could not use the insurance in the hospital in the province that i reside now (Sisaket). If i needed hospitalization for something that was not excluded, I would need to travel 90 km to Surin or 65km to Ubon to be admitted to an approved hospital - that was not acceptable. I have a good national government insurance in my home country but being retired here in Thailand it would be very costly to fly back to my home country for care. I was disappointed to find out that the group coverage provide here was only for persons 65 or younger. So if this is helpful to you or anyone you know over 65 to 75 in good health like me that needs medical insurance anywhere in the Thailand that is good in any hospital in any province in Thailand, I would be happy to recommend my agent to you. The agent will also provide you with a complete translation of the policy and benefits and any exclusions that may be applicable in Plain English. Just contact me with a Private message. Jing Jing!

[Issangeorge]

One reasonable accident or illness and you're way over your 800.000 Baht.

If you go to a big private hospital in their 5 star rooms, you may be right. However if you stick to government hospitals you would have a hard time spending ฿800,000. I recently had a bad motorcycle accident and needed three operations. In our local government hospital the total bill including 8 nights stay was under ฿40,000.

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[Sheryl]

One reasonable accident or illness and you're way over your 800.000 Baht

If you go to a big private hospital in their 5 star rooms, you may be right. However if you stick to government hospitals you would have a hard time spending ฿800,000. I recently had a bad motorcycle accident and needed three operations. In our local government hospital the total bill including 8 nights stay was under ฿40,000.

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An 8 day stay is nothing, we are talking about people with prolonger hospitalizations, as in a month+, much or all of it in ICUs. I've seen plenty of people go well over a million baht in bills at a government hospital in that scenario.

All it takes is a prolonged ICU stay and a few major surgeries.

I recall one case that hit a million about 10 years back -- woman in her early 50's keeled over at the BTS station unconscious from a stroke. Over a month in ICU and severkl neurosurgeries to relieve intracranial pressure. And this was a decade back when rates were a lot lower...

A major heart attack with prolonged CCU stay and either stent placement or open heart surgery will also easily get you into the 7 figures.

[scorecard]

So my summation is:

- For many 'mainstream' health insurance eventually becomes 'unworkable' but we should try to keep up some cover if possible (ultimately personal choice of course).

- We will all eventually pass on.

- Until the passing day, why not have the '30 Baht cover' to help get past the bumps along the journey to the end.

By the way, again a big thank you to Sheryl and NancyL and their associates for their dedicated work with all of this.

[Mike45]

I just purchased a policy today from a top Thai Life Insurance company that offers the Hospital and Accident insurance rider for ages up to 75 yrs. The life portion was not something i really wanted but combined with the Hospital and Accident riders the final price was the same I have been paying in at the best known Insurance agency in Pattaya for the past 3 years without the exclusions and the life insurance portion will not increase each year. Formerly I have been a licensed life and health general agent in the Western World and am very pleased with the professionalism and coverage provided in this policy that I purchased today  for 30,000thb total for one year. I was paying 30,000 thb in Pattaya for a policy that I had to purchase before turning 65 and in that policy everything that was of concern to me was an exclusion in that policy (such eyes, retina & cataract, prostrate, cardiac, joints, arthritis, etc etc. etc.) and I am in very good health now without any severe pre-existing conditions, plus the worst part of that Pattaya issued policy was that i could not use the insurance in the hospital in the province that i reside now (Sisaket). If i needed hospitalization for something that was not excluded, I would need to travel 90 km to Surin or 65km to Ubon to be admitted to an approved hospital - that was not acceptable. I have a good national government insurance in my home country but being retired here in Thailand it would be very costly to fly back to my home country for care. I was disappointed to find out that the group coverage provide here was only for persons 65 or younger. So if this is helpful to you or anyone you know over 65 to 75 in good health like me that needs medical insurance anywhere in the Thailand that is good in any hospital in any province in Thailand, I would be happy to recommend my agent to you. The agent will also provide you with a complete translation of the policy and benefits and any exclusions that may be applicable in Plain English. Just contact me with a Private message. Jing Jing!

It sounds very affordable. But what will you do at age 76 when the insurance ends?

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