Get out of the hospital with no insurance

[Rosfort23]

Hello

I have a grandfather in thailand, who is at the hospital and I would like to get him home to Denmark.

He is at a private hospital in pattaya, and has no money at the moment to to pay for his bills. He has a house in thailand, and is trying too sell it, but it is not easy at the moment.

The question is now, can I take him back to Denmark, without paying his medical bill?

Is there a chance that he will be denied flying, or is that not something that will happen.?

I really need this information before i travel down there, too be sure, that i can get him to Denmark, and in a hospital here?

Hope that maybe Sheryl can help me?

From Pernille Rosfort, Denmark

Edited September 12, 2015 by Rosfort23

[swissie]

The Hospital-Administrators will be very happy in case you show up in person at the Hospital. In no time at all, they will tell you how much YOU owe them (=Family-Member).

Good luck.

[Rosfort23]

The problem is that a am in Denmark, and can't do that.

[Sheryl]

The hospital will not let him out nor assist in his transfer home without being paid.

They may, however, agree to accept partial payment if he or youy sign a payment plan contact to repay the balance (with interest) in installments. This is done all the time for people living in Thailand, but as he is returning to Denmark, they may be less amenable for fear htey's have little recourse if the payments aren't made.

There isn't a solution other than to meet with the hospital finance department to discuss it (or, if your grandfather is up to it, for him to initiate these discussions now).

If he is ill enough to still be in the hospital, flying him back may not be easy and will certainly need the hospital's cooperation. I could advise more if I knew more about his condition.

Which hospital is he in? If it is Bangkok Pattaya I suggest getting him transferred immediately to a less expensive place so that at least the bills don't escalate as rapidly. Again, could advise more if I had some info as to what is wrong with him.

[swissie]

The problem is that a am in Denmark, and can't do that.

You wrote: "before i travel down there, too be sure, that i can get him to Denmark, and in a hospital here?" You also wrote: "The problem is that a am in Denmark, and can't do that".

If not you, who should get him back to Denmark? The Danish Embassy or the holy ghost? The Danish Embassy will do it, if someone pays for the return-flight ticket beforehand. What the holy ghost would charge for the same service, I simply don't know.

But one thing I know for sure: Not the Danish Embassy nor the holy ghost will pay the Hospital-Bill.

Cheers.

[Rosfort23]

Sheryl:

He is in Pattaya memorial Hospital, and i have been told, that it is not a good idea to get him to a non private hospital, that it wouldn't be good for him. At the moment he is still in the ICU, and has been there since wednesday.

He has different problems, he has non treated diabetes, and it looks like it is this that makes most of his problems. He also has pancreatitis, problems with his kidneys, and has started to get something to eat and drink today.

The doctor says that we kan fly him home in 2-3 days, and somebody needs to travel with him, if he gets sick on the way, and need medicine.

[jpinx]

Maybe arrange some security with the hospital based on the value of the house to be sold. If Grandfather has a bank account in Thailand he might be able to borrow the money from the bank against the house.

[Rosfort23]

Maybe arrange some security with the hospital based on the value of the house to be sold. If Grandfather has a bank account in Thailand he might be able to borrow the money from the bank against the house.

Do you think he can do that, if he has no money in the bank.?

[jpinx]

Maybe arrange some security with the hospital based on the value of the house to be sold. If Grandfather has a bank account in Thailand he might be able to borrow the money from the bank against the house.

Do you think he can do that, if he has no money in the bank.?

That's a question for the bank.

Really, you need to explore what the hospital is owed, and what payment schemes or schedules they are offering.

Call the hospital, find an administrator who speaks English (or Danish), and get the conversation started - to continue it by email to save phone call costs.

[Rosfort23]

The hospital will not let him out nor assist in his transfer home without being paid.

They may, however, agree to accept partial payment if he or youy sign a payment plan contact to repay the balance (with interest) in installments. This is done all the time for people living in Thailand, but as he is returning to Denmark, they may be less amenable for fear htey's have little recourse if the payments aren't made.

There isn't a solution other than to meet with the hospital finance department to discuss it (or, if your grandfather is up to it, for him to initiate these discussions now).

If he is ill enough to still be in the hospital, flying him back may not be easy and will certainly need the hospital's cooperation. I could advise more if I knew more about his condition.

Which hospital is he in? If it is Bangkok Pattaya I suggest getting him transferred immediately to a less expensive place so that at least the bills don't escalate as rapidly. Again, could advise more if I had some info as to what is wrong with him.

He is in Pattaya memorial Hospital, and i have been told, that it is not a good idea to get him to a non private hospital, that it wouldn't be good for him. At the moment he is still in the ICU, and has been there since wednesday.

He has different problems, he has non treated diabetes, and it looks like it is this that makes most of his problems. He also has pancreatitis, problems with his kidneys, and has started to get something to eat and drink today.

The doctor says that we kan fly him home in 2-3 days, and somebody needs to travel with him, if he gets sick on the way, and need medicine.

[Sheryl]

Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals.

You are going to need a "fitness to fly" certificate fromthe doctor to get him on the airplane, among other things.

Agree with other poster's suggestion that you start the ball rolling on the phone with hospital administrator if you can't get quickly to Thailand.

Explain that your grandfather and the family do not have the money to pay the full bill now but that he will sell his house, and ask about what sort of payment plan can be worked out. Make it clear you do intend to pay eventually (and please, for the sake of the next person in the same situation, do so).

And meanwhile the family should put their heads together and figure out how much money you can scrape together for an initial payment to the hospital as they are going to insist on at least some money up front.

Whose name is the house in? As unless it is a condo it cannot be in his name. Which may be an issue in terms of selling it.

If he does have a condo in Thailand in his own name that may help in terms of payment plan with the hospital.

[chakatee]

Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals.

You are going to need a "fitness to fly" certificate fromthe doctor to get him on the airplane, among other things.

Agree with other poster's suggestion that you start the ball rolling on the phone with hospital administrator if you can't get quickly to Thailand.

Explain that your grandfather and the family do not have the money to pay the full bill now but that he will sell his house, and ask about what sort of payment plan can be worked out. Make it clear you do intend to pay eventually (and please, for the sake of the next person in the same situation, do so).

And meanwhile the family should put their heads together and figure out how much money you can scrape together for an initial payment to the hospital as they are going to insist on at least some money up front.

Whose name is the house in? As unless it is a condo it cannot be in his name. Which may be an issue in terms of selling it.

If he does have a condo in Thailand in his own name that may help in terms of payment plan with the hospital.

"Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals." sounds as you haven't paid any bills there lately.

But without settling the bill in Pattaya Memorial you will not get him out there and without any advance payments you will not get him into any other hospital.

Instead of hush hush selling the property way below value, it is not sales high season in the property market, you'd better advance payment for your relative, get him to Denmark and get your money back as soon as he can sell his property on a reasonable timeframe and for a reasonable price.

[Walter Travolta]

Swissie was really helpful

[Sheryl]

"Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals." sounds as you haven't paid any bills there lately.,,

If you know of a less expensive private hospital in Pattaya, I'm all ears.

I wasn't saying it was cheap. Just the least expensive among the private hospitals in that part of the country.

[Rosfort23]

Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals.

You are going to need a "fitness to fly" certificate fromthe doctor to get him on the airplane, among other things.

Agree with other poster's suggestion that you start the ball rolling on the phone with hospital administrator if you can't get quickly to Thailand.

Explain that your grandfather and the family do not have the money to pay the full bill now but that he will sell his house, and ask about what sort of payment plan can be worked out. Make it clear you do intend to pay eventually (and please, for the sake of the next person in the same situation, do so).

And meanwhile the family should put their heads together and figure out how much money you can scrape together for an initial payment to the hospital as they are going to insist on at least some money up front.

Whose name is the house in? As unless it is a condo it cannot be in his name. Which may be an issue in terms of selling it.

If he does have a condo in Thailand in his own name that may help in terms of payment plan with the hospital.

"Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals." sounds as you haven't paid any bills there lately.

But without settling the bill in Pattaya Memorial you will not get him out there and without any advance payments you will not get him into any other hospital.

Instead of hush hush selling the property way below value, it is not sales high season in the property market, you'd better advance payment for your relative, get him to Denmark and get your money back as soon as he can sell his property on a reasonable timeframe and for a reasonable price.

[Rosfort23]

Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals.

You are going to need a "fitness to fly" certificate fromthe doctor to get him on the airplane, among other things.

Agree with other poster's suggestion that you start the ball rolling on the phone with hospital administrator if you can't get quickly to Thailand.

Explain that your grandfather and the family do not have the money to pay the full bill now but that he will sell his house, and ask about what sort of payment plan can be worked out. Make it clear you do intend to pay eventually (and please, for the sake of the next person in the same situation, do so).

And meanwhile the family should put their heads together and figure out how much money you can scrape together for an initial payment to the hospital as they are going to insist on at least some money up front.

Whose name is the house in? As unless it is a condo it cannot be in his name. Which may be an issue in terms of selling it.

If he does have a condo in Thailand in his own name that may help in terms of payment plan with the hospital.

"Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals." sounds as you haven't paid any bills there lately.

But without settling the bill in Pattaya Memorial you will not get him out there and without any advance payments you will not get him into any other hospital.

Instead of hush hush selling the property way below value, it is not sales high season in the property market, you'd better advance payment for your relative, get him to Denmark and get your money back as soon as he can sell his property on a reasonable timeframe and for a reasonable price.

The problem is that nobody in the family have the money

[Rosfort23]

The problem is that a am in Denmark, and can't do that.

You wrote: "before i travel down there, too be sure, that i can get him to Denmark, and in a hospital here?" You also wrote: "The problem is that a am in Denmark, and can't do that".

If not you, who should get him back to Denmark? The Danish Embassy or the holy ghost? The Danish Embassy will do it, if someone pays for the return-flight ticket beforehand. What the holy ghost would charge for the same service, I simply don't know.

But one thing I know for sure: Not the Danish Embassy nor the holy ghost will pay the Hospital-Bill.

Cheers.

I am going down there to get him home, but i need to be sure that i can do that, because i don't have the money to come back home, and then travel down there on later, and then get him home. That is why it is importent that i know it now.

[Rosfort23]

Pattaya Memorial is as inexpensive as it gets in private hospitals.

You are going to need a "fitness to fly" certificate fromthe doctor to get him on the airplane, among other things.

Agree with other poster's suggestion that you start the ball rolling on the phone with hospital administrator if you can't get quickly to Thailand.

Explain that your grandfather and the family do not have the money to pay the full bill now but that he will sell his house, and ask about what sort of payment plan can be worked out. Make it clear you do intend to pay eventually (and please, for the sake of the next person in the same situation, do so).

And meanwhile the family should put their heads together and figure out how much money you can scrape together for an initial payment to the hospital as they are going to insist on at least some money up front.

Whose name is the house in? As unless it is a condo it cannot be in his name. Which may be an issue in terms of selling it.

If he does have a condo in Thailand in his own name that may help in terms of payment plan with the hospital.

He have a company and it is his company who owns the house, and that is how he owns it. He has sold a house before, so he do know hav to do that. The problem is, that the marked isn't the best.

But if nobody in the family can help with money, and he dosn't have any, do you think that by showing that he owns a house would be enough.? it is the only thing that we can do.?

Unfortunally tha danish ambassy isn't open until monday morning.

[Sheryl]

Showing that he has assets in Thailand may help. There may be some way to use it as collateral in the repayment agreement, but need to discuss with the hospital finance dept. Suggest you start that conversation as soon as possible.

The Embassy is not going to be able to do much if anything.

[BKKdreaming]

The problem is that nobody in the family have the money

How much is the Hospital bill ?

You can always sell the property at a lower price , if there is enough money to get him out of the hospital and also pay the airline bill ,

But the airline will not let him on the plane if he is too sick , so you need to make sure he is strong enough to fly ,

Does he have a car or truck in Thailand ? if so you can maybe sell that,

Or just get a bank loan in Denmark and worry about paying it off later....

[Rosfort23]

Showing that he has assets in Thailand may help. There may be some way to use it as collateral in the repayment agreement, but need to discuss with the hospital finance dept. Suggest you start that conversation as soon as possible.

The Embassy is not going to be able to do much if anything.

We might be scared that he is goi8ng to be dumbed in another, not as good hospital, if we start to talk to them about, that he dosn't have the money?

[Rosfort23]

The problem is that nobody in the family have the money

How much is the Hospital bill ?

You can always sell the property at a lower price , if there is enough money to get him out of the hospital and also pay the airline bill ,

But the airline will not let him on the plane if he is too sick , so you need to make sure he is strong enough to fly ,

Does he have a car or truck in Thailand ? if so you can maybe sell that,

Or just get a bank loan in Denmark and worry about paying it off later....

He has already sold his car, because he wants to move back to Denmark. the bil is probadly gonna be about 390000 Bath.

It is probadly smart to sell the property at a lower price, but he still need money to live somewhere in Denmark.

We are in contact with doctor, when it comes to when he needs to get home, and they say that they will let him in 3-4 days.

It is not easy to get a loan in denmark, unless you own something in denmark, and he dosn't.

[ksamuiguy]

Have you talked to him? Just how sick is he? Could be he is Fit to Fly.

[BKKdreaming]

390,000 baht is not BIG money , around 10,000 US , I was thinking the problem was 5-10 times that much ,

Ok....then sell YOUR car , your Wifes car , your Brothers car.....

but I think your bigger problem is finding an Airline that will fly him in the cheap seats without a doctor or nurse with him ,

They really do not want sick people on the plane and then have to land somewhere because he gets worse !

[NancyL]

How is grandfather justifying the financial requirements for his retirement visa? He's suppose to have either a bank account in Thailand of 800,000 baht or a monthly income of 65,000 baht or a combination. So, is there a Thai bank account that can be used?

Also, BKKDreaming is right, 400,000 baht really isn't much money for several members of the family to come up with -- maybe sell something or get a cash advance on credit cards, etc.

And if the doctors are saying he'll be ready to fly, then he probably will be. They're fairly conservative when they make statements like this and they know he'll have a family member with him. But, they will have to write a letter to this effect and they won't do that until they know the bill is going to be taken care of.

[Muzarella]

If his house appraisal value is about 1 million, he have good credit, and not many debts, will be easy to get at least 300.000 by refinancing.

You can call his bank to ask about, but may be a Thai lawyer will help in do that, and negotiate with the bank and the hospital, without the need of you coming to Thailand now.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Muzarella

[Sheryl]

Showing that he has assets in Thailand may help. There may be some way to use it as collateral in the repayment agreement, but need to discuss with the hospital finance dept. Suggest you start that conversation as soon as possible.

The Embassy is not going to be able to do much if anything.

We might be scared that he is goi8ng to be dumbed in another, not as good hospital, if we start to talk to them about, that he dosn't have the money?

No way. The last thing they are going to do is let him out the door until they are assured of eventual payment.

It will, however, possibly get them to be more conservative about any unnecessary costs, which is to both your and their advantage. (For example it seems odd that he requires ICU care now but they think he will be fit to fly in just 3-4 days...).

Start the conversation at once.

[Sheryl]

How is grandfather justifying the financial requirements for his retirement visa? He's suppose to have either a bank account in Thailand of 800,000 baht or a monthly income of 65,000 baht or a combination. So, is there a Thai bank account that can be used?

Also, BKKDreaming is right, 400,000 baht really isn't much money for several members of the family to come up with -- maybe sell something or get a cash advance on credit cards, etc.

And if the doctors are saying he'll be ready to fly, then he probably will be. They're fairly conservative when they make statements like this and they know he'll have a family member with him. But, they will have to write a letter to this effect and they won't do that until they know the bill is going to be taken care of.

As he owns a company, he may not be on a retirement visa.

But how it is that he owns a company and a house but doesn't have any money at all in the bank, is a mystery, unless eh has already paid part of the hospital bill with all cash on hand.

[Sheryl]

If his house appraisal value is about 1 million, he have good credit, and not many debts, will be easy to get at least 300.000 by refinancing.

You can call his bank to ask about, but may be a Thai lawyer will help in do that, and negotiate with the bank and the hospital, without the need of you coming to Thailand now.

As the house is owned not by him but by a company, it is the company which will have to take out the loan.

He will not have been able to establish a company without Thai partners and whatever this company does, it is likely to have Thai employees. Suggest having one of them find out how and where to get a loan using the house as collateral, or to mortgage the house.

You might also like to start a thread in the business and finance forum asking for advice/places to contact in the Pattaya area. The posters who hang out there know far more about this sort of thing than the health crowd do.

[simple1]

Unless the OP's grandfather is the exception, companies established to acquire a property are normally only a shell with no trading activity. Perhaps the OP can clarify.