true66 Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Hello.........I am 67 and been a few times to Thailand. My query about health insurance in Thailand. Do you or most of you that live there have health insurance. At my age would be exorbitant cost to have. I believe in the vicinity of $100 per week. If living there and not have health insurance would the government hospital/clinic accommodate foreigners? A concern for me if have to live there on permanent basis. Thanking you for any information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 There is both an insurance and health forum. Yes it will cost but most must be started before age 70 so you need to get going. Yes you can use government hospitals at cost - but even then treatment can run into hundreds of thousands or even higher if you need expensive treatment or medications - plus it is rather hard to navigate if ill and only have limited Thai - and many procedures will require waiting or more expensive payments - and doctors are assigned in most cases and actually often only oversee interns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Without adequate cover, and depending on circumstances, its quite possible to be ruined financially by health care costs. There are many threads on this and suggest you do a simple search of the forum for a variety of experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 (edited) It's even worse than that. At your age, you most like have some or multiple chronic conditions. That means there are going to be severe exclusions from your coverage, likely over the top unreasonable ones, and if you are caught in any kind of lie later with claims, insurance companies will try to reveal them to deny coverage. For example, do you take meds for high blood pressure? In that case your entire cardiovascular system may be excluded (heart attack, stroke). Cancellations upon renewal attempts after a major claim are also common. Not sure where you are coming from but suggest looking at countries where you can access the national health care system, like Ecuador, or not expatriating at all. Read the posts of NancyL for seemingly endless cases of older people getting into very deep trouble of medical cost situations. You're wise to look into this. I suggest you look into this very deeply. Edited February 27, 2016 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rdrokit Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 (edited) Some insurance companies will not insure you if you are over 60 like Bupa. I am 68 and have a company called Thai Health Insurance. They have a few different policies depending on how much coverage you want. Here is their website in case you want to check them out. They are a major player in Thailand and most hospitals will honor them. http://www.thaihealth.co.th/2012/index.php P.S. Not sure but I think their limit is 65 for new policies but I might be wrong as I have had them for 10 years. Edited February 28, 2016 by Rdrokit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
true66 Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 Thank you for your responses. It looks a very bleak prospect to live in Thailand if you are over 60 - 65. I am sure there are 1000's living in Thailand over 60. Would it be that most are rich and can afford the fees that are charged? Or many taking risks and whatever will be will be. I am an Australian citizen and no way I am a rich. I still work part time, with part pension and some super. I think best way for me be as I read in another thread to have part of my super set aside as my own insurance for anything that can happen. Seeing the restrictions that insurance companies put on you, even paying them $1000's a year is no guarantee that you get covered for all your needs. As they say.......Whatever will be will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Sumo Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Thank you for your responses. It looks a very bleak prospect to live in Thailand if you are over 60 - 65. I am sure there are 1000's living in Thailand over 60. Would it be that most are rich and can afford the fees that are charged? Or many taking risks and whatever will be will be. I am an Australian citizen and no way I am a rich. I still work part time, with part pension and some super. I think best way for me be as I read in another thread to have part of my super set aside as my own insurance for anything that can happen. Seeing the restrictions that insurance companies put on you, even paying them $1000's a year is no guarantee that you get covered for all your needs. As they say.......Whatever will be will be. No most aren't rich. They are just "winging it". Some just plan to throw themselves at the mercy of the nearest gov hospital. Some "self insure" but often underestimate just how expensive an emergency procedure or an extended stay in hospital can get. Even if they have enough to cover their bills, that self-insurance fund will need to be topped up because once it's gone, it's gone. Why do you wanna come to Thailand anyway? No offence but you don't sound like you can actually afford to retire fully yet and you're knocking on. If you've got pre-existing conditions, you might just be better off staying put and making do with holidaying here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiteman Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 If you've got pre-existing conditions, you might just be better off staying put and making do with holidaying here. This makes sense I am 69 soon I have the nzi cover it is not cheap but I am happy to pay it and yes I am excluded anything related to heart because of blood pressure at the age of 61. I took this out at 65 But there are heaps of other things that can land you in hospital. In your case I would stay stay in Ausy. I am from NZ if I got into a real big problem as a last resort I would go back there and go private. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
true66 Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Thank you for your replies. I been weighing my options. I got a Thai girlfriend who I known nearly 2 years and was hoping to avoid the inevitable for as long as I can. I been there with her and she come over for 3 months (sponsored by me). I believe she is only permitted to come to oz for so many times, and seem they only get 3 months at a time. The other option is to marry which they can get 9 months provided you get married. If someone know better please assist as a lot I hear is hearsay and also it gets complicated for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvs Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 If you've got pre-existing conditions, you might just be better off staying put and making do with holidaying here. This makes sense I am 69 soon I have the nzi cover it is not cheap but I am happy to pay it and yes I am excluded anything related to heart because of blood pressure at the age of 61. I took this out at 65 But there are heaps of other things that can land you in hospital. In your case I would stay stay in Ausy. I am from NZ if I got into a real big problem as a last resort I would go back there and go private. The problem is if you run into a big problem (accident,heart attack) the airlines will not let you fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connda Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) If you've got pre-existing conditions, you might just be better off staying put and making do with holidaying here. This makes sense I am 69 soon I have the nzi cover it is not cheap but I am happy to pay it and yes I am excluded anything related to heart because of blood pressure at the age of 61. I took this out at 65 But there are heaps of other things that can land you in hospital. In your case I would stay stay in Ausy. I am from NZ if I got into a real big problem as a last resort I would go back there and go private. The problem is if you run into a big problem (accident,heart attack) the airlines will not let you fly. If you live in Oz, why not consider taking out an insurance policy for air ambulance evacuation back to Oz. Keep enough money set aside in Thailand to make sure that a Thai ICU can stabilize you, and get flown back to your home country. Just a thought. Commercial flights are out except under specific conditions. After a certain age, the exclusions and cost become so prohibitive that you will essentially be pre-paying the insurance company for any medical service you will receive in the future, if your 'condition' is covered at all. Better to bank your own premiums, arrange to be seen at a Thai government hospital if need be, and then have an air evac policy to get you back home where you are covered. I'm sure there are those few who will say you're a slacker because the insurance company excludes conditions you have that you will be on your own to pay whilst charging you massive premiums and deductibles as you age. There seems to be a 'Haves' and "Haves not" attitude in some of these insurance forums. Personally if I had known how my life was going to turn out 40 years ago I would have planned, but having no crystal ball..... We do the best we can under the circumstances. Edited March 1, 2016 by connda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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