Refunding money paid for expat/government health insurance

[AnotherOneAmerican]

@BBT

Your actual costs to the hospital in consumables (for 8 days).

Saline bag, 15bht each (x20), Antibiotic, 100bht, Painkillers, 100bht

You paid 650bht x 8 for the room

They made a profit of around 7,000bht out of you.

Not a loss, a profit.

PS

I also have gallstone attacks every couple of years, but don't want it cut out.

500mg Cipro from the local pharmacy sorts it out (5 day course), if you recognize the symptoms and take early action.

That's all the hospitals are doing, if they don't cut it out.

[elektrified]

Well the medical condition of these people,if it was so obvious, should have been picked up by the hospital staff at the time of the initial application interview,x ray,blood tests etc.

The scheme was badly thought out, no surprise Thailand is full them. I guess we have have all heard stores of youngish foreigners having major road accidents ,mostly on motor bikes, been taken to hospital with serious injuries and long term stay requirements,particularly in Phuket and Pattaya and no money .Not sure how the hospitals recover the costs.

I know from personal experience in the Philippines, Doctors wont touch anybody in accident cases until someone guarantees payment.I had one of my staff in La Union with his foot almost hanging off and I had to front up 20,000 pesos for starters

The hospitals in Phuket, Pattaya and other tourist destinations in Thailand, contrary to what you may have heard, do not foot the bill for long term stays, major hospitalization, or major surgery. They only stabilize the patient until someone can at least make a sizable down payment. In the case of motorcycle accidents involving compound fractures it is not uncommon for the hospital to require 150,000-200,000 Baht before the patient can be admitted.

I know of 3 cases of people I know personally who were in need of urgent medical care in Thailand and had to wait (in 2 cases as long as 7 hours) to be admitted due to time differences in their home countries, contacting relatives, etc. One friend had a heart attack on a plane at Suvarnabhumi and the hospital absolutely would not admit him until someone put 75,000 Baht on their credit card to guarantee partial payment.

[Mapguy]

+JUst wondering why you foreigners need 2,000bht so badly.

Let the hospital keep it, be charitable.

and help pay off the debt of over 100K Bath racked up by one foreigner alone (to the shock and surprise of the entire Nakhornping staff). how many people could get away with paying 2,000 Bath in another country and pull off racking up a 100,000 Bath bill when this old chap knew well in advance he had major health problems. no surprise he hasn't shown up to make some payments [which he owes them now]. another one racked up a 10K (or thereabouts) bill and had the nerve to try and collect his 2K Bath! this plan was supposed to be for people who needed to see a doctor when they are sick, get some pills, and other routine care. not show up half dead and expect the Thai government to foot the bill for them. i heard from a reliable source that these one or two foreigners in C.M. alone broke the entire system for everyone else.

You sound a bit miffed! If you believe all that you read, it does appear that some foreigners were in need of a lot of health services, but your claim, especially the useless reference to "a reliable source" isn't helpful. That is nothing but cheap hearsay --- opinionated gossip --- until you name the source, and that source has his or her story straight.

[Thighlander]

http://www.lannacarenet.org/foreigner-health-insurance-program-moph-directive/

Thanks Nancy

That pretty well explains it all. Some will just have to wait.

Maybe some time in the future they will come up with a more reasonable plan. 2.200 baht would not even get you a regular doctors visit back home.

Queue knee jerk reaction no.4 "this is not back home so you shouldn't compare prices. You can buy a new suit and a fish supper for 2,200b in Thailand".

Last summer I was back home and two Dr. visits were free, as will a couple of visits this June/July.

I guess it depends where 'back home' is.

Free with 50% income tax(es) and 20 Dollar per pack ciggies.

[northernjohn]

@BBT

Your actual costs to the hospital in consumables (for 8 days).

Saline bag, 15bht each (x20), Antibiotic, 100bht, Painkillers, 100bht

You paid 650bht x 8 for the room

They made a profit of around 7,000bht out of you.

Not a loss, a profit.

PS

I also have gallstone attacks every couple of years, but don't want it cut out.

500mg Cipro from the local pharmacy sorts it out (5 day course), if you recognize the symptoms and take early action.

That's all the hospitals are doing, if they don't cut it out.

and all the doctors and nurses worked for free. They had no utilities so that was a big saving for them also. No body cleaning the rooms and doing the laundry. Food was uncooked. Good thing he could hold his saline bag that also saved them some money, and the band played on.