How to gain access to the best healthcare for expats in Thailand with Cigna Global

[Jonathan Fairfield]

How to gain access to the best healthcare for expats in Thailand with Cigna Global

With its idyllic beaches, thriving cities and a very attractive quality of life, Thailand has been moving up on the expat list of top destinations. The country’s popularity has been growing fast among professionals, students and retirees. But is the healthcare system appropriate to accommodate expatriates?

Thailand has a strong emerging economy and the medical services have seen significant improvements over the past two decades. However, these provisions may not be made for expats to receive the best possible health care.

Private medical insurance like those available from Cigna Global can help provide a high level of care facilities, as well as complete peace of mind for you and your family.

Expats living in Thailand face a number of difficulties in the country, and many of them find that private medical insurance helps to alleviate the issues. One of the problems is that most doctors travel constantly from hospital to hospital rather than having a specific place of work, so their availability becomes limited.

The high volume of traffic, especially in Bangkok, means that ambulances are not able to respond efficiently in cases of emergency. Furthermore, most doctors in Thailand are specialists, and it is difficult to find a general practitioner who can treat individuals for minor medical problems.

Gaining access to the best healthcare facilities and prompt treatment in Thailand can be both complicated and expensive. We at Cigna understand how challenging this can all be for expats, so we are here to make it easier, to ensure you get the best treatment and to help you save high up-front costs.

At Cigna Global, we have designed international health plans specifically to cater for expat’s requirements. Our range of products is designed to tailor the needs of you and your family. Choose from three distinct levels of cover, with five optional additional benefits, including outpatient care, medical evacuation, and vision & dental care.

With our premium products comes a premium service. We strive to deliver everything an expat would need in a health insurance policy:

Flexibility – Cigna Global currently offers three progressive levels of cover to give you flexibility, both in terms of price, and product benefits.

Global Network – All policyholders have access to the Cigna Global IPMI medical network, which comprises of over 1 million medical professionals across the globe.

High Policy Limits – As standard, policies come with benefits such as, up to $3,000,000 USD of care per period of cover (Platinum level policies), covering things like surgeon fees, consultation fees, medical fees and hospital accommodation.

Cancer Care – Full Cancer Care is a standard benefit with all Cigna Global Policies.

Unique/Unusual Benefits – Routine maternity cover comes as standard with Cigna Global’s middle and top tier levels of cover, while extras like Outpatient cover, Medical Evacuation, Vision & Dental, and US Cover are available as optional extras.

Fully Medically Underwritten – All Cigna Global policies are fully medically underwritten with a view to providing full clarity and transparency on the implications of medical conditions.

As a specialist in expatriate healthcare, we’ll never stop looking for ways to ensure that expats can have the very best of care available to them. For more information on Cigna Global, or to get a quote, please visit www.cignaglobal.com

[Nemesis7]

Good to know

[dfp]

No mention of exclusions and no mention of age limit etc.

[RBOP]

No mention of exclusions and no mention of age limit etc.

You have to contact them for quote and details.

[akentryan]

Get a quote, look at the exclusions, look at the coverage, look at where you can get treated. Look at customer service when you have a problem. Then get another price for comparison purposes. Most expensive does not always equal the best for you.

[Graeme Lahman]

I found Cigna Global was too expensive and not very flexible. I eventualy signed up with AXA-PPP as they offer a very flexible package and variable excess options.

[SteveSamui6262]

Before paying for coverage of any insurance policy: Require the insurance agent to provide you with an actual copy of the policy for your review. NEVER consider an insurance company's brochure, which is likely to list vast amounts of coverage from many of their policies as what you will be purchasing. Trust what is in print rather what the insurance sales agent tells you. Remember, they work on commission.

Read all fine print. Understand the terms, conditions, provisions, limitations, exceptions, coverage limits and deductibles. Is medication covered? Will prior claim authorization be required? Can you go to ANY medical center or only receive treatment at a medical center within the insurance companies network?

THESE ARE IMPORTANT DETAILS

Good Luck

[JESSVANPELT]

very over priced and terrible service cant compete with BUPA

[TheKnave]

Ads disguised as news stories/forum posts?

Rosy bullshit about how Thailand is 'becoming' a more popular place for retirees?

LO f'ing L...

New landlord, hahahaha.

[chickenrunCM]

so now ThaiVisa hide adverising in a (look like) nomal article? does Thai Visa ever heard about Ehtik rules for Advertising?

mark this Advertising and dont sell it like an independant article to the People.

[HerbalEd]

Why isn't the advertisement labeled as such? I don't like being fooled into reading an ad which looks like a no-commercial article. Very bad form tv.com.

Edited February 16, 2016 by HerbalEd

[thaiduncankk]

Why isn't the advertisement labeled as such? I don't like being fooled into reading an ad which looks like a no-commercial article. Very bad form tv.com.

The least TV could have done with this underhand advertising would have been to use a more affordable product ?

[TheKnave]

The new management has a lot to learn. Seriously, a lot...

[MyFriend You]

I am a babe in the woods concerning this subject - been healthy all my life and just 'retired' completely - GIGNA sent me a brochure and the least expensive was about 10,000 baht a month for hospitalization (max co-pay is $5,000) - would you consider that expensive?? I always read about BUPERS - is that a Thai Medical Insurance company?? If so, what are their prices, can someone arrived a link - I would need something that can cover me in travel as well. Thanx

[Pib]

No mention of exclusions and no mention of age limit etc.

You have to contact them for quote and details.

You can get a quote real time on their website. Just click the Get a Quote icon on their website. I did it the other day. Now they want you to enter your name, age, email address, etc., before being allowed to click the button that gives you the immediate online quote, but you can enter bogus info into those data fields to get the quote. But no, they don't give "fine print" info that I could see just general coverage info. But after getting the quote I didn't look much farther so maybe there are fine print details in some links I didn't see (if it had been a snake.....).

Edited February 18, 2016 by Pib

[motyduke]

I really dont like to see that articles are hidden ad . It make me feel that the webmaster think i am stupid . I hope it is not the new way of TV. Worrying about that

[dfp]

No mention of exclusions and no mention of age limit etc.

You have to contact them for quote and details.

You can get a quote real time on their website. Just click the Get a Quote icon on their website. I did it the other day. Now they want you to enter your name, age, email address, etc., before being allowed to click the button that gives you the immediate online quote, but you can enter bogus info into those data fields to get the quote. But no, they don't give "fine print" info that I could see just general coverage info. But after getting the quote I didn't look much farther so maybe there are fine print details in some links I didn't see (if it had been a snake.....).

Not only that, they also want your credit card details right away as if it is given that they will give you cover.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I am a babe in the woods concerning this subject - been healthy all my life and just 'retired' completely - GIGNA sent me a brochure...

I believe that's the one where your Thai girlfriend with benefits agrees to cover all of your medical expenses...

[Pib]

No mention of exclusions and no mention of age limit etc.

You have to contact them for quote and details.

You can get a quote real time on their website. Just click the Get a Quote icon on their website. I did it the other day. Now they want you to enter your name, age, email address, etc., before being allowed to click the button that gives you the immediate online quote, but you can enter bogus info into those data fields to get the quote. But no, they don't give "fine print" info that I could see just general coverage info. But after getting the quote I didn't look much farther so maybe there are fine print details in some links I didn't see (if it had been a snake.....).

Not only that, they also want your credit card details right away as if it is given that they will give you cover.

Never asked me for any credit card details to get a quote. You sure you are going to the right page....here's the Quote Page.

https://www.cignaglobal.com/

[topt]

I found Cigna Global was too expensive and not very flexible. I eventualy signed up with AXA-PPP as they offer a very flexible package and variable excess options.

Was that Axa PPP International scheme or the Thai based version?

For someone just north of 55 the AXA PP International Standard scheme was £2,283.96 pa

The closest equivalent Cigna policy was £2,108 pa

And these were last year prices so not sure if have increased since Jan 1 2016.......

[dr_lucas]

On 2/16/2016 at 9:32 PM, JESSVANPELT said:

very over priced and terrible service cant compete with BUPA

 

Are they?

Do you compare BUPA Global with CIGNA Global or the local Thai branches that are almost totally different?

They both are large UK based companies and are heavily regulated there, which is usually a good thing (Cigna is actually American, but their GLOBAL HQ is in Scotland and their policy is governed by UK laws and regulations).

I was with BUPA INTL for the past 15 years and their premiums have gone up like crazy since I joined them.

For their most extensive policy of in-patient + out-patient+ dental/vision +  all other modules without co-payments and without excess they were going to charge me around $10,000 for the next year while I am only going to be 40 and this is a policy with no USA coverage. They said this is the same rate for new customers with my age and location.

CIGNA Global offered me a significantly better policy (Platinum), which practically has almost no amount limitations or waiting periods on anything (except short waiting for dental) and costs 22% less. A more or less equivalent CIGNA policy to my previous BUPA policy would be CIGNA's GOLD which is 41% cheaper than BUPA INTL and still has a few better options, such as annual health screenings while BUPA limits this to one screening every 2 years etc.

Important to note that I did get an excellent service from BUPA INTL and their pre-authorization guarantees arrive in 10-20 minutes since I call and are valid for 30 days including follow up within 30 days, while I got no experience with CIGNA yet.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2016 by dr_lucas

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Don't want to pile on here...but... as others have noted:

 

It's really offensive to have what is clearly an advertising pitch article be put forward by TV as a editorial regular post.

[rwdrwdrwd]

Won't cover Thai partner, and overpriced compared to better current policy - not impressed.

[dr_lucas]

5 hours ago, rwdrwdrwd said:

Won't cover Thai partner, and overpriced compared to better current policy - not impressed.

 

Which one is the better current policy?

[expatfamily]

Cigna is only in the business of paying your healthcare bills, they are not in the business of actually helping you gain access to the best healthcare in Thailand. 

If you want the best healthcare then you need to find the best doctors at the best hospitals.. which is not always a easy thing as the best doctors and healthcare are busy providing care for the elite.