Insurance advice for a complete newbie

[pinkpanther99]

Hi

I'm looking for advice on medical and health insurance in Thailand.

I'm a complete noob to this and have no idea where to begin!

I'm just about to turn 30, became a father for the first time last year and figure that it is about time to think about medical insurance and the like, having lived in Thailand for the last 3 years without any kind of insurance whatsoever (stupid I know).

I would like some pointers on good insurance companies?? An idea of costs? Do you pay yearly, monthly? How does it work?

Of course I'll be googling too, but would also like some firsthand info from the wise old heads of this forum.

Apologies if these questions are very basic but like I said, I know absolutely nothing about this kind of thing!

Any advice would be warmly welcomed.

Thanks

[dantilley]

Mine's sorted out by my company so I don't know the exact costs but I believe they pay a yearly lump sum.

What I would recommend getting, budget permitting, is an international insurance package (not a local Thai package) such as BUPA, GoodHealth, Henner or similar.

In roughly descending order of importance, I would say you should try and get:

Inpatient costs should be covered 100%, so that if you're admitted in an emergency, all your bills will be paid (within reason - they do have a limit usually but it can be 100,000s or even millions of USD).

Try and get a family package, ideally at a flat rate for any size family, meaning that any more kids you have won't start costing you extra.

Speaking of which, maternity cover would be good if you're planning on having any more kids.

Outpatient cover is good, but maybe not necessarily 100%, perhaps around 80% cover (so for an outpatient visit costing 5,000 THB, you would pay 1,000 THB and the insurance covers the rest).

A direct settlement agreement is also good as it means that you can just show your card to the hospital and you don't have to pay anything (except for your portion if you don't get 100% coverage on some services)

Dental is a nice to have, again perhaps not the full 100% coverage though.

[Jonmarleesco]

Happy to help, from a professional point of view, and that requires more than answers to a couple of odd questions. If you want to know more, let me know - I assume via the forum; if not, no problem.

[peterb17]

How much do you travel? I rearranged a very expensive world wide package to a SE Asia policy that covers most of the local countries- this was with A+, not based in Thailand. I reduced my policy fee by two thirds, but still covers everything and a couple of million dollars cover.

[Slinky1958]

Just been to bupa I'm 55 3500 platinum cover good package baht every month if you join before 60 you can stay on past 70

Out patient claim is 5000 baht per vist limited to 10 vists per year so I didn't both with that

You at 30 be very cheap bare in mind they dont cover previous chronic illnesses some things like cyst etc you get cover if you not been ill with that condition for 6 months

[1Ping1]

Mine's sorted out by my company so I don't know the exact costs but I believe they pay a yearly lump sum.

What I would recommend getting, budget permitting, is an international insurance package (not a local Thai package) such as BUPA, GoodHealth, Henner or similar.

In roughly descending order of importance, I would say you should try and get:

Inpatient costs should be covered 100%, so that if you're admitted in an emergency, all your bills will be paid (within reason - they do have a limit usually but it can be 100,000s or even millions of USD).

Try and get a family package, ideally at a flat rate for any size family, meaning that any more kids you have won't start costing you extra.

Speaking of which, maternity cover would be good if you're planning on having any more kids.

Outpatient cover is good, but maybe not necessarily 100%, perhaps around 80% cover (so for an outpatient visit costing 5,000 THB, you would pay 1,000 THB and the insurance covers the rest).

A direct settlement agreement is also good as it means that you can just show your card to the hospital and you don't have to pay anything (except for your portion if you don't get 100% coverage on some services)

Dental is a nice to have, again perhaps not the full 100% coverage though.

Great post, I am in same boat as original post, just older. 56 years young. Also stupid for not having insurance the past three years.

My question. Do you have the BUPA international policy that you refer to?. And if so, does it truly replace travel insurance for when going on holiday?. Also, any idea what the premiums cost?. Yeah, I have an appointment later this week with an AA ins broker agent. Just trying to get a feel before I go in to make sure I do not get ripped off.

Due to lack of any insurance, I have been purchasing AirAsia's travel insurance when the Thai wife, daughter and myself travel, and while I hate reading 30 page documents, when I read this one, the limits of coverage are so low that I do not think it would be of much assistance if an urgent need came up while out of the country. Dependent of course what country you were in. Great if in Cambodia, crap if in say Hong Kong or Singapore. Also, after reading all the fine print, I suspect getting them to reimburse may be a bigger pain in the arse than paying the bill itself.

If anyone has ever used Asia Airs travel insurance and file a claim I would love to hear from them also.

[dantilley]

I'm not with BUPA, no, it's a French company called Henner. I'm covered for any medical treatment worldwide I think.

[1Ping1]

Thanks Dantilley,

Anyone else that has said coverage with BUPA. Meaning either the international plan or the Thai only plan.

Greatly appreciate any and all help in advance.

[pinkpanther99]

Mine's sorted out by my company so I don't know the exact costs but I believe they pay a yearly lump sum.

What I would recommend getting, budget permitting, is an international insurance package (not a local Thai package) such as BUPA, GoodHealth, Henner or similar.

In roughly descending order of importance, I would say you should try and get:

Inpatient costs should be covered 100%, so that if you're admitted in an emergency, all your bills will be paid (within reason - they do have a limit usually but it can be 100,000s or even millions of USD).

Try and get a family package, ideally at a flat rate for any size family, meaning that any more kids you have won't start costing you extra.

Speaking of which, maternity cover would be good if you're planning on having any more kids.

Outpatient cover is good, but maybe not necessarily 100%, perhaps around 80% cover (so for an outpatient visit costing 5,000 THB, you would pay 1,000 THB and the insurance covers the rest).

A direct settlement agreement is also good as it means that you can just show your card to the hospital and you don't have to pay anything (except for your portion if you don't get 100% coverage on some services)

Dental is a nice to have, again perhaps not the full 100% coverage though.

Thanks for this, it gives me plenty to think about. Cheers

[pinkpanther99]

Just been to bupa I'm 55 3500 platinum cover good package baht every month if you join before 60 you can stay on past 70

Out patient claim is 5000 baht per vist limited to 10 vists per year so I didn't both with that

You at 30 be very cheap bare in mind they dont cover previous chronic illnesses some things like cyst etc you get cover if you not been ill with that condition for 6 months

I've never had any chronic illnesses and haven't had surgery at hospital for more than 20 years, when I had my appendix removed. My only other trip to the hospital was when I broke my big toe.

A friend of mine told me to stay away from Bupa as he is having problems getting some kind of rebate back due to the fact that he hasn't made a claim since he took out the policy?? I dont know.

Bupa were the first name I thought of as they are about the only medical insurance company I know!

[pinkpanther99]

How much do you travel? I rearranged a very expensive world wide package to a SE Asia policy that covers most of the local countries- this was with A+, not based in Thailand. I reduced my policy fee by two thirds, but still covers everything and a couple of million dollars cover.

I don't really travel overseas to much. The odd visa run to Laos or KL!! And a trip back home to the UK every couple of years

[stevenl]

Just been to bupa I'm 55 3500 platinum cover good package baht every month if you join before 60 you can stay on past 70

Out patient claim is 5000 baht per vist limited to 10 vists per year so I didn't both with that

You at 30 be very cheap bare in mind they dont cover previous chronic illnesses some things like cyst etc you get cover if you not been ill with that condition for 6 months

I've never had any chronic illnesses and haven't had surgery at hospital for more than 20 years, when I had my appendix removed. My only other trip to the hospital was when I broke my big toe.

A friend of mine told me to stay away from Bupa as he is having problems getting some kind of rebate back due to the fact that he hasn't made a claim since he took out the policy?? I dont know.

Bupa were the first name I thought of as they are about the only medical insurance company I know!

I'm not saying Bupa is good or bad, but unless included in the policy conditions, of course they don't refund premiums if you don't make claims. His advice is based on nothing.