How to choose health insurance coverage?

[Cinderella Man]

I'm just choosing a health insurance for myself. As I've spent my life in Europe/Australia where you pay XXX and are covered 100% for everything I'm really confused how much coverage I actually need.

I understand that sh*t happens and then the more the better. On the other hand considering my situation I'm not very keen on paying high premiums.

Basically

- I'm late 20's

- I exercise, eat healthy and in good physical state

- I haven't been sick ever since I don't live in that freaking cold Europe -> years

- Never really any big health issues anyway

- my only risk factor is that I party (a lot)

Do you think 1M baht coverage is sufficient?

Thank you

[BeefSlapper]

They all doggy insurances here from my research.

Try Bupa

Or get cheap one from Kbank covers for public hospitals.

Sent from my SM-A800F using Tapatalk

[Cinderella Man]

I was recommended Thaivivat - on paper they seem to be comparable/better than Bupa

[ezzra]

With Thai health insurance it's pretty much a crap shoot, you know what you have to pay them

but you never know what you will be getting in return once you need it, that you will discover

the small print and the Oh no, you're NOT COVERD for this attitude...

[MeHere]

They all doggy insurances here from my research.

Try Bupa

Or get cheap one from Kbank covers for public hospitals.

Sent from my SM-A800F using Tapatalk

I was on Bupa through my company provided insurance... They switched from another provider (I forgot who) to Bupa (which apparently 'was' Bluecross/Blueshield in a previous life).

The coverage seemed 'OK' several times when I needed to goto the hospital (Vibhavadi Hospital) here near my home, although after an oyster induced bout of food poisoning in Pattaya (King Seafood, BTW), I still had to pay THB5,000 for several hours of a saline drip and medicine, which I thought was completely unreasonable.

[BeefSlapper]

I was recommended Thaivivat - on paper they seem to be comparable/better than Bupa

Bupa got bad reviews

Sent from my SM-A800F using Tapatalk

[BeefSlapper]

I got one from my home country Poland

Got it recentely

Its cheap like 50GBP a year and good reviews.

Foreginers can buy it im sure. They dont cover foreginers in thier home countries.

For example english man would not be covered in UK but it should works in thailand

http://www.planetamlodych.com.pl/?page_id=262

I know few poles using it in thailand and never paid anything.

For the price its worth a shot

Ask them on fb https://mobile.facebook.com/PlanetaMlodych/?_rdr

[email protected]

U cant be older then 59

Or search similar thing in ur home country.

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Edited November 6, 2015 by BeefSlapper

[NoBrainer]

Look into AIA or Axa. 2 Million should be quite reasonable at your age, and would give you pretty comprehensive cover. I believe that Axa covers outpatient, but AIA only covers hospital stays.

[akentryan]

Cinderella Man PM me. I have info for you

[Tidybeard]

Hi

This is not an advert, just passing on some options.

Try www.pacifcprime.com

They are an independent broker who will take you details and then compare 10 or 15 policies for you.... select which suits you best. I use these guys and find them to be very efficient.

[vicio]

I'm Italian and I have health coverage in my country. I live in Thailand and I recently try to study what is the better solution.

I realized that any plan of saving and project in the long term could be jeopardized from a serious illness or accident.

Insurance is necessary.

I'm middle age man, I'm healthy, no chronic or serious diseases.

Strategy:

1. terminal illnesses or chronic diseases can't be really covered from any insurances, go back to your country, wait for Obama Care if you are american, or die.

2. serious acute accidents, illness that require expensive care, surgery, treatment, specialist can crush your life savings, force you to go back your country (if you have time to go back) or kill you if not treated properly: you need insurance and you need to cover big amount.

3. outpatient, medication, routine checks in Thailand are covered from "local" insurances. They are all scammers. They cover what you are already pay, and if you are using a private hospital, the medication are overcharged. If you are not spending all the amount, insurance earns money. If you spend all the amount, insurance earns money cos of the hidden deal with hospital. Basically you always loose money.

Let's go back to case 2. The formula is based on statistics (probability of accident) for category of spending. In Thailand the average spending in private hospital is about 150K-200K per year per citzen (all expenses divided per number of patients).

A full insurance (every coverage, full amount) will cost to you 150K-200K. They do this.

You can cut from:

A. the top (max limit)

B. the bottom (deduction).

C. by side (cost sharing)

D. by vertical (exclude some illnesses).

In my case I don't want to esclude any illness (D), or cut from the top (A) (I want to go to sleep that I'm covered for everything and avoid the case, you are not covered, you die). © Cost sharing is complicate math to manage. I focus on deductions(.

With a deduction of 100K, I can buy an international insurance (Cigna, Bupa International) and pay about 40-50K per year. 3 Thousand baht per month. I'm healthy, so If nothing happens, I just pay a small amount to cover the extraordinary case. If something small happen, I will use my saving and probably, I will fix it. For all the rest the Insurance pay.

You can add a very small insurance (10K per year) to cover small accident (motorbike, road accident) cos you can show the insurance card to the emergency room, and they take care of you without asking nothing.

International insurances also offer check up as additional package, and it seems that they are convenient considering the cost of checkup in Thailand (Bumrungrad about 16K). You pay less, then you receive in benefit. But I'm still studying this.

I didn't purchase yet, I'm going to do next week. Any comments is welcome.

v

[NoshowJones]

They all doggy insurances here from my research.

Try Bupa

Or get cheap one from Kbank covers for public hospitals.

Sent from my SM-A800F using Tapatalk

I understand that to get the cheap one from Kbank, you have to have a work permit.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[MisterprakanBroker]

Hello Sir,

We can help with that, Insurance companies in Thailand are not dodgy or unreliable, most of insurance companies here are basically backed by an international brand. The problem foreigners have with dealing with insurance is the language barrier or the lack of information given to them.

The best way is to go to a broker that has an English speaker and ask him or her for choices. Going to a broker is the best option because they not only give you cheaper rates they also have a lot of options available. They don't focus on 1 insurance provider.

Hope this helps.

[bangkokpoppys]

You get what you pay for mate. Cheap means low costs. You may be healthy now and that's great. The future always unknown. Spend a little bit more and have some peace of mind.

[VIPinthailand]

get the cheapest. the best is not to smoke and not to drink. smokers are the worse people for health insurance companies.

you can have a free accident insurance if you open a bank account in some banks. I don't know if they still offer it.

Edited November 6, 2015 by VIPinthailand

[uptoyoumyfriend]

k bank,is that kasikorn ,krungthai or what-very nice to sound trendy but better to spell it out

[Suradit69]

k bank,is that kasikorn ,krungthai or what-very nice to sound trendy but better to spell it out

K bank is Kasikorn. Not exactly "trendy" since that's pretty much what they call themselves.

[Suradit69]

I'm just choosing a health insurance

"Health insurance" is a somewhat misleading term if you're accustomed to insurance that covers various situations. Before my retirement coverage kicked in I used BUPA, which was OK, but it was essentially in-patient coverage for someone while in hospital. You could add on limited out-patient coverage, but the additional cost pretty much equaled the maximum possible benefit you'd ever potentially receive.

At your age it would probably be fairly cheap, but almost anything other than an accident that needs to be treated during your first year could be blamed on a pre-existing condition, thus not covered and most policies have restrictions or refuse coverage for motorcycle accidents.

[farangmick]

At your age, even good health cover should be pretty cheap. I'm approaching 60 and pay £82 pcm for the basic 1,000,000 Euro cover, with a 5,000 Euro excess. A mate has made a couple of claims with the company without a problem. PM me if interested.

[fang37]

Health Insurance

When you are young, it is inexpensive but really not a great need.

As you age, it is very important but it is very expensive.

I haven't had insurance for 40+ years.

[Balance]

I would find a broker. Tell him what you want and how much you want to pay. In terms of premium costs, the higher the the co-pays the lower the premium cost.

Cigna has an expat policy and since you are young you might want to look at it.

I have AIA, but I would not recommend it for a number of reasons. I also have Medicare in the U.S. It costs about $1,000 round trip to get there, but I just had a $90,000 heart procedure and my out of pocket was $420.

You might want to look at accident insurance, but some companies will not cover anything on 2 wheels, driving or as a passenger.

Good luck

[Gonsalviz]

Mine is 22,000 Baht more or less. Covers to 100 percent up to $1 million USD. 59 YO. 60 at the turn of the year.

[topt]

Mine is 22,000 Baht more or less. Covers to 100 percent up to $1 million USD. 59 YO. 60 at the turn of the year.

Per annum cost?

Care to share who that is with as it is incredibly cheap - if a full in patient health insurance scheme and not some travel/long stay insurance?

[AAInsuranceBrokers]

The one thing to remember about Health/Medical Insurance is that it is for the long term. Even though there is an annual premium to pay you need to think many years ahead. Unlike (say) a car which you can change every 3 years – and even change insurance companies every year ! – you need to take a Health/Medical Policy with a view to keeping the same Policy to old age.

The reasoning behind this is that if you accepted without exclusions then no matter what happens in the future you are covered. However should you change companies after a medical problem then that may well be excluded from your new plan/company.

Keeping in mind your policy may run for 10, 15, 20 or more years what about the amount insured ? I see posts saying 1 or 2m Baht is enough coverage but what about in 10, 15 etc. years – will it be sufficient ?

[VIPinthailand]

in 5 years, Healthcare will be so expensive that most people will choose to not have health insurance.

healthcare is just a ponzy scheme. a gigantic scam to insurance companies.

[thailand49]

I did a extensive check a number of years back on policies and hospital. Like one guy it is a crap shoot. One thing for sure insurance is not like the West no matter what company you go with it is NOT, one card covers everything. Meaning you buy a policy for inpatient and outpatient and if a company is selling or saying it covers both then compare the final price of the policy it is most likely much more or double the price. For example since people talk about Bupa, if you buy a 1 million baht policy it will not cover you for doctor visits and medication it will only if you stay over night. It you want the outpatients it is usually recommended to pay out of pocket because the outpatients policy might or will cost you as much as the inpatient. For example, if your 1 million annual cost is 20,000 baht , the outpatient in general might cost 20,000 giving you 30 visits etc.. who the hell goes to the hosptial for 30 visit and if you do they will cancel you because of the risk factor regardless of the your age. Some policies do not cover for accidents if you do not require overnight. And if they do fine print will most likely indicate a provision dangerous sport, here in Thailand riding a bicycle is consider a dangerous sport. You will not get the fine print until you actually buy the policy then you will have plenty of exclusion. Personally I wouldn't tell them you party hard etc..or smoke.

Here is a example... a friend had a accident he was unconcious they took him to BPH, cut into his skull, a month in ICU, his bill came out to 1,200,000 baht. they had empty his bank account, max out his credit card. Gave his a written English breakdown he fax home to his insurance and he was able to get the money back. It is hard to know what exactly you need. In general a guy like you who say they party hard, get into a type of accident fall, drive drunk etc...end up in the hospital for over a month you would be bankrupted.

At your age... if you are discipline, I would buy the minimum with some accident insurance coverage normally 10,000 baht is the max. if you still think you need more because you are active in sport you can buy for 2,000 baht a policy that covers you up to 100,000 baht. I got one in case I fall into a hole here in Pattaya while working a break a leg? Start a personal Health saving account for your outpatient treatment and find a independent clinic or Doctor for the small stuff like blood test where the insurance can't track your history. This is because they check hospitals to see your history and if they feel you haven't been up front with them they will refuse service or cancel your policy.

Go the the Forum Health care you will get much more information! Good luck young man...

,

Edited November 8, 2015 by thailand49

[Gutenberg]

At this age - similar to mine - I would only recommend a plan for serious illnesses and accidents.

I pay most of the bills by myself, including dentists but if I get a heart attack, I want to be covered and not paying 500,000 THB out of the pocket.

So I don't think insurances are scams. You would scam your body if you are unconscious and need serious ICU treatment but nobody pays for it. Be prepared to receive paracetamol and adrenaline, then see yourself out on the street on the way to the graveyard.

[synchronise]

1 Million Baht coverage is not a lot and the problem is you do not know what you would need, as you do not know what you would need it for.

There are a coupleof articles from Pacific Cross that were interesting and may clarify the type of insurance you need. i found them useful.\

Also if you already have insurance (company), maybe you look at your existing coverage and look at topping up with a new policy. That will make your private insurance cheaper.

Speak to a broker, or ask fro Greg at Pacificcrosshealthinsurance.com. He will help you with the process.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/863375-thailand-how-to-reduce-the-cost-of-health-insurance/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/861007-advice-health-or-accident-insurance/

[JLCrab]

get the cheapest. the best is not to smoke and not to drink. smokers are the worse people for health insurance companies.

you can have a free accident insurance if you open a bank account in some banks. I don't know if they still offer it.

Health insurance is bad deal if you're not planning on ever getting real sick. Only if you run up major medical bills is health insurance really a good deal. So if you're not planning on ever getting real sick, don't buy it.

[Cinderella Man]

Thanks for all the responses. I did a lot of research... BTW: I'm European

IMO all the Thai insurance companies seems super expensive for what they offer in compare with the Western ones.

Ie:

LMG Insurance, from $12/month for $12k cover

Pacific Cross from $27 for $34k cover

Thai Vivat: from $47 for $56k cover

It's "Worldwide" but very little max cover for most countries. Also they limit it to 30 days out of Thailand.

So far my favourites are

ACS Asia, 1st dollar scheme: $55 / $63 for 500k/1M

IMG Europe

- $35 for $2.5M lifetime with $1000 deductible

- also I couldn't find that motorbike would be excluded

These are truly Worldwide with no limits (of course not USA/Canada/Singapore etc which would make it more expensive)

IMG Europe is registered in the UK and from what I read UK has pretty good system in place if the insurance company tries to <deleted>> you over. And I couldn't Google too many complains.

I got one from my home country Poland

Got it recentely

Its cheap like 50GBP a year and good reviews.

Foreginers can buy it im sure. They dont cover foreginers in thier home countries.

For example english man would not be covered in UK but it should works in thailand

http://www.planetamlodych.com.pl/?page_id=262

It seems interesting but somehow too-good-to-be-true... Less than 5GBP a month for 50000GBP cover with no excess?

Edited November 20, 2015 by Cinderella Man