Uninsured foreigners burdens Thai public hospitals

[billd766]

...or Thailand should get a free NHS service like U.K.

what 'free' NHS service? you mean the 'free' service all Brits pay into all their working lives???

Is it true a Brit ex-pat who may have paid NI for 40+ yrs, on visiting the UK and taken ill is expected to pay the full cost plus an extra 50%?

As far as I understand the answer is yes, but that is only if you go back on a holiday and are not intending to stay in the UK permanently. Also it believe it applies if you go for treatment for an existing condition.

Should you be involved in an accident, have a fall etc requiring emergency treatment then I believe that treatment will be free.

[Bluespunk]

When has it ever been OK not to pay your bills just becaiuse you think you are being charged too much. I am den sure my bank over charges for their services, the local auto mechanic, accountants, lawryers, don't get me started on income tax! Let's just admit that their are a boat load of ner-do-well foreigners in Thailand. And stop blaming Thai hospitals which are absurdly cheap compared to the same service in the home country.

You might be a ner do well, but I work here. Legitimately.

[F4UCorsair]

That's the mostvassnine thing I've ever heard. You have any idea how much tax one visitor pays coming to Thailand? One visitor pays about 20 years worth of taxes on a two week visit. Crazy. And when they go to the hospital it's usually because they are dead. How much does that cost?

I have read some "Crazy" statements here on TVF but this one, "One visitor pays about 20 years worth of taxes on a two week visit", is obviously barking !

I though so too sj5.

I wonder what else, after paying those 20 years worth of taxes, he'd like a visitor to be entitled to, in addition to free medical care....let me guess....a hooker every night down Soi Nana? A couple of Changs each afternoon at a Pattaya beer garden. They sky's the limit.

Edited March 7, 2016 by F4UCorsair

[falang khinok]

well i checked on insurances lately cause wanna stay some time in the LOS....all I found was bloody expensive ( even thai insurers ) 250 $ at least and more a month....so I am kind of stuck..travel insurance covers only 2 month after arrivel and not more....and I wonder if u have to pay up front and later have to sue ur ensurer (as usual ) or only get back half...another scam....

private insurances are apain in the ass....I think they should alow falangs to pay a decent fee maybe 30 $ a month to receive their green card ( = basic medical for the average thai and for them is free ) .... and make it a compolsery insurance when a falang rents a car or a bike....for accidents only....sure nobody covers them if they are drunk ...nowhere ...but if a drunk driver hits u at least u would be insured for basic service...

a fair deal for allas I am convinced that governmetn insurances are the best and most affordable for the average bloke....

[simon43]

Most of these hospitals are grossly expensive as all of them love to overcharge.

The article is about Vachira, which is the main government hospital in Phuket.

I think one of the problems (that is mentioned in the article), is where foreigners maybe have insurance, but that it is not valid for the incident, sich as riding a motorbike without the required Thai licence, or riding/driving whilst intoxicated. I'm not sure what one does in situations such as these.

Phuket private hospitals can be very expensive. 2 weeks ago, I had to have 3 stitches removed from my eye region after a previous motorbike accident, (I was not drunk and had my Thai licence...)

The hospital (Phuket International Hospital) levied a fee of 55 baht for the treatment

[chiang mai]

As far as I know all hospitals and doctors/clinics levy a 50 baht charge known as the OPD charge, Out Patient Department, even my family doctor does this.

[lvr181]

Why not bill the embassy of the sick citizen? Let the patient's country pay and they can seek compensation from their citizen/patient upon returning to the home country.

[Bluespunk]

Why not bill the embassy of the sick citizen? Let the patient's country pay and they can seek compensation from their citizen/patient upon returning to the home country.

Good idea, as a citizen they might not even have to pay when they get home.

[uptheos]

...or Thailand should get a free NHS service like U.K.

what 'free' NHS service? you mean the 'free' service all Brits pay into all their working lives???

And see our contributions gobbled up by immigrants, who have paid nothing but access the same service.

[Bluespunk]

...or Thailand should get a free NHS service like U.K.

what 'free' NHS service? you mean the 'free' service all Brits pay into all their working lives???

And see our contributions gobbled up by immigrants, who have paid nothing but access the same service.

Not true.

[affen02]

Just a thought. They forgot in this article to mention that if a thai national living in Norway get sick, need an operation in the millions of Bath, it is free. No never mention the other side of the coin. Maybe im unjust here because the countries are so different in every aspect, but still. I have the latest years started to pay tax of some of my pension to Thailand without getting anything in return exept two pieces of paper, one saying im a tax resident the other saying how much i have paid. I am doing this because i think it is just that the country i live in should get some of the tax i would have to pay anyway. In Norway they tax our pensions with 15% if we tax emigrate. I can always go home and get that operation if needed and im alive, but why dont the thais give us who pay tax here anything in return for our money f.ex free medical at government hospitals.

[affen02]

Just a thought. They forgot in this article to mention that if a thai national living in Norway get sick, need an operation in the millions of Bath, it is free. No never mention the other side of the coin. Maybe im unjust here because the countries are so different in every aspect, but still. I have the latest years started to pay tax of some of my pension to Thailand without getting anything in return exept two pieces of paper, one saying im a tax resident the other saying how much i have paid. I am doing this because i think it is just that the country i live in should get some of the tax i would have to pay anyway. In Norway they tax our pensions with 15% if we tax emigrate. I can always go home and get that operation if needed and im alive, but why dont the thais give us who pay tax here anything in return for our money f.ex free medical at government hospitals.

[little mary sunshine]

Please, all these people that think the hospitals in Thailand

Are expensive, both Government and Private, NEVER, EVER

travel to The States without insurance....A visit to any ER for

A minor accident will be a minimum of $800 two or three day

Stay in the hospital, Doctor, lab work, room,medication will

Cost several thousands of dollars.

[little mary sunshine]

No such thing as Free Health Care or FREE ANYTHING

Someone has to pay!!Taxes,taxes,taxes

[Bobotie]

Just a thought. They forgot in this article to mention that if a thai national living in Norway get sick, need an operation in the millions of Bath, it is free. No never mention the other side of the coin. Maybe im unjust here because the countries are so different in every aspect, but still. I have the latest years started to pay tax of some of my pension to Thailand without getting anything in return exept two pieces of paper, one saying im a tax resident the other saying how much i have paid. I am doing this because i think it is just that the country i live in should get some of the tax i would have to pay anyway. In Norway they tax our pensions with 15% if we tax emigrate. I can always go home and get that operation if needed and im alive, but why dont the thais give us who pay tax here anything in return for our money f.ex free medical at government hospitals.

As a non EU citizen, A thai national living in Norway for 3 months or less requires their own private medical insurance, they are not entitled to anything, and even once getting into the socical security system, what they are entitled to received maybe restricted

If your already paying tax on your pension in Norway, why are you paying tax again in Thailand ? Under reciprocal tax arrangements if your paying tax at source, which you said you are you have no need to pay tax again in Thailand on the same money....so how much tax have you paid to the Thai goverment from the pension you have already been taxed on in Norway ?

[Bobotie]

Please, all these people that think the hospitals in Thailand

Are expensive, both Government and Private, NEVER, EVER

travel to The States without insurance....A visit to any ER for

A minor accident will be a minimum of $800 two or three day

Stay in the hospital, Doctor, lab work, room,medication will

Cost several thousands of dollars.

The US is scam central for medical costs, i had a friend who worked as a doctor there for a while, and thing like charging the patient USD 800 for a single drip bag of saline costing USD 1 was one of his favorites to quote as regards excessive costs

[smedly]

This is already a very old debate and has been covered many times in TV. The issue at hand in the quoted instances is that fact that the hospitals overcharge and apply inappropriate treatments in many cases. Go to a government hospital and the bill will usually be reasonable.

all the posts here are sensible and spot on, considering Thailand heavily relies on tourism and millions come here every year it might be just a simple idea to charge 500 baht upon entry and the problem is solved, also considering that many of the people who end up in hospital are there because of the poor safety standards and the general unwillingness to spend money to improve them, insurance is not the answer and never will be. JMO

[Farang99]

Just a matter of time before the government runs off more retirees by requiring that they have insurance that would wipe out a third of some monthly incomes. Universal coverage is the answer but no one is asking the question.

That is a frightening prospect. I am sure there are many like me who, because of existing health problems or advanced age, are unable to buy insurance! Retruning to the UK, where I would be unable to get treatment because I am not resident, is also not an option.

Stand by for more farang suicides.

[soalbundy]

Just a matter of time before the government runs off more retirees by requiring that they have insurance that would wipe out a third of some monthly incomes. Universal coverage is the answer but no one is asking the question.

That is a frightening prospect. I am sure there are many like me who, because of existing health problems or advanced age, are unable to buy insurance! Retruning to the UK, where I would be unable to get treatment because I am not resident, is also not an option.

Stand by for more farang suicides.

At some time or other you have reached the end of the pole, an old person,like myself, should consider suicide as a viable alternative to putting a financial burden on his family for a few more years of sickness and pain.

[Usual Suspect]

At UK check-in desks the airline staff check your flight details, then check your passport for a visa to match that duration...so the next step for this country would be to make it law that you must have valid insurance for the length of your stay, & be checked before boarding.

BUT...How many will falsify their details just to get that Certificate of Ins..?

The airline will want extra money for handling this extra burden.

The Thais will be miffed 'cos they want you to buy insurance here..(as mentioned before in this thread)

The hospitals get a result..even more profit when treating an insured patient (ever thought WHY your travel Ins is so expensive?..<deleted> greedy hospitals charging extortionate rates)...This high rate they hit the insurance companies with will easily offset their losses, so this all boils

down to the same old story here...

..THAI GREED!

[JLCrab]

Just a matter of time before the government runs off more retirees by requiring that they have insurance that would wipe out a third of some monthly incomes. Universal coverage is the answer but no one is asking the question.

That is a frightening prospect. I am sure there are many like me who, because of existing health problems or advanced age, are unable to buy insurance! Retruning to the UK, where I would be unable to get treatment because I am not resident, is also not an option.

Stand by for more farang suicides.

Bob Hope's famous line was: "A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it."

The same goes for heath insurance: The time to first buy it is before you have existing heath problems or reach an advanced age.

[mcfish]

Hospitals can just deduct these losses from the 500‰ mark up from legit farangs and they would still be light years in front

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[little mary sunshine]

Bobotie: USA medical system is not a scam. Like all other

Professional occupations in the USA it is very lucrative I worked

In the medical field all my life, wonderful pay, benefits and now

Pension. So many Canadians nurses work in The States because of the

Salaries. If you have Doctorate or Masters degree the pay is

Excellent.

[Eneukman]

What moron goes to Thailand without travel insurance?

I used to pay about US$60 for a single trip

I think they should be locked up after their treatment till the family or someone else pays.

Thats what would happen if they didnt pay their hotel bill, whats the difference?

You're lucky! A friend is coming over from Scotland for a month an his insurance was a LOT higher. Granted, he's 72 but in reasonable health.

Government hospitals charge a fraction of the extortionate private hospitals, I use them, and never fail to pay the final bill.

Why doesn't the Government, or a company within Thailand, introduce an insurance for people restricted to using public hospitals only ?

I am sure the premiums would be a lot more affordable for people here.

With regards to making it compulsory for arrivals to have insurance, this would be impossible to police. With modern technology, it is not rocket science to forge a bill head,from an overseas insurance company, quoting a blag policy number, indicating that the person is insured. Proving that every document people show on arriving is genuine would be impossible.

What moron goes to Thailand without travel insurance?

I used to pay about US$60 for a single trip

I think they should be locked up after their treatment till the family or someone else pays.

Thats what would happen if they didnt pay their hotel bill, whats the difference?

Many expats who have lived here for the past ten years or more chose to self insure, I'm one of them, it's cost effective if you have savings put aside for such an emergency and my past twelve years here have proved that to be true. Forcing me to buy insurance does nothing more than improve insurance company profits and reduce the quality of my treatment and care, at age 66, pre-existing conditions are unlikely to be covered thus money spent on premiums would otherwise have been spent on treating those conditions.

I imagine what will happen with this at some point is that a government charge will be levied on those who do not have health insurance, that levy is likely to be substantial but only entitle the patient to be treated at government hospitals.

Because I had high blood pressure before I came here, I cannot get any cover for any medical problems related to this even though the medication I take keeps it well under control. I have therefore chosen to self-insure by putting funds every month into a separate bank account. A simple solution would be to offer ex-pats like myself affordable insurance that can only be used at government hospitals. Anyone coming on holiday should have appropriate insurance cover.

Alan

[JLCrab]

This discussion has been done at length in the Insurance Forum: You really don't buy insurance for the normal wear & tear that most everybody goes through and that a self-insured reserve fund would most likely cover. You buy it in case you are one of the maybe less than 3% of persons who suffer from some catastrophic illness that would wipe out the kind of reserves that are generally discussed on ThaiVisa.

So you can say well I've not had insurance for 10+ years and I've come out ahead. Congratulations -- you didn't get real sick. Nobody expects to ever get really sick -- but of those that DO get really sick, probably near 100% thought it would never happen to them.

[Bobotie]

Bobotie: USA medical system is not a scam. Like all other

Professional occupations in the USA it is very lucrative I worked

In the medical field all my life, wonderful pay, benefits and now

Pension. So many Canadians nurses work in The States because of the

Salaries. If you have Doctorate or Masters degree the pay is

Excellent.

So charging a patient $800 for a $1 cost item is not a scam/rip off...? and people here criticise the Thai private system LOL

[johnnybgood]

My (insured) heart bleeds

for our.... ohhhh sooo.... charitable hosts.

[jpinx]

This discussion has been done at length in the Insurance Forum: You really don't buy insurance for the normal wear & tear that most everybody goes through and that a self-insured reserve fund would most likely cover. You buy it in case you are one of the maybe less than 3% of persons who suffer from some catastrophic illness that would wipe out the kind of reserves that are generally discussed on ThaiVisa.

So you can say well I've not had insurance for 10+ years and I've come out ahead. Congratulations -- you didn't get real sick. Nobody expects to ever get really sick -- but of those that DO get really sick, probably near 100% thought it would never happen to them.

That's why I got the quote for medical insurance with a high rate of shared payment and a large excess -- the premiums were reasonable and it covers the extreme case.

Pre-existing conditions are always an issue, but mine are covered because I have not had any treatment for them for 5 years. Someone with a condition that is being treated more recently might want to debate the advisability of long term travel at all, and certainly take out travel insurance.

[meatboy]

i am with you alan,having had a new aota valve and a double by-pass and have to take medication for life i too cant get any sort of med.insurance.

before i had the op.2007 one yr.before moving here permantly it used to cost between 140gbp.-180gbp.a trip.depending on my stay,the wifes was 45gbp.

so when i did move 2009 i opened a seperate acc.and put in xamount every 6months.now i have more than enough to cover me [hopefully].

there should be a goverment hospital scheme that gave you good cover at a gov.hospital not having to pay 10times more to stay at one of the private one's.

most of the specialist doctors that work at the goverment ones all double up in the private secter.

[Bobotie]

What moron goes to Thailand without travel insurance?

I used to pay about US$60 for a single trip

I think they should be locked up after their treatment till the family or someone else pays.

Thats what would happen if they didnt pay their hotel bill, whats the difference?

You're lucky! A friend is coming over from Scotland for a month an his insurance was a LOT higher. Granted, he's 72 but in reasonable health.

Government hospitals charge a fraction of the extortionate private hospitals, I use them, and never fail to pay the final bill.

Why doesn't the Government, or a company within Thailand, introduce an insurance for people restricted to using public hospitals only ?

I am sure the premiums would be a lot more affordable for people here.

With regards to making it compulsory for arrivals to have insurance, this would be impossible to police. With modern technology, it is not rocket science to forge a bill head,from an overseas insurance company, quoting a blag policy number, indicating that the person is insured. Proving that every document people show on arriving is genuine would be impossible.

What moron goes to Thailand without travel insurance?

I used to pay about US$60 for a single trip

I think they should be locked up after their treatment till the family or someone else pays.

Thats what would happen if they didnt pay their hotel bill, whats the difference?

Many expats who have lived here for the past ten years or more chose to self insure, I'm one of them, it's cost effective if you have savings put aside for such an emergency and my past twelve years here have proved that to be true. Forcing me to buy insurance does nothing more than improve insurance company profits and reduce the quality of my treatment and care, at age 66, pre-existing conditions are unlikely to be covered thus money spent on premiums would otherwise have been spent on treating those conditions.

I imagine what will happen with this at some point is that a government charge will be levied on those who do not have health insurance, that levy is likely to be substantial but only entitle the patient to be treated at government hospitals.

Because I had high blood pressure before I came here, I cannot get any cover for any medical problems related to this even though the medication I take keeps it well under control. I have therefore chosen to self-insure by putting funds every month into a separate bank account. A simple solution would be to offer ex-pats like myself affordable insurance that can only be used at government hospitals. Anyone coming on holiday should have appropriate insurance cover.

Alan

So an insurance company classes you at such a risk they will not insure you for the pre existing condition, but as a non citizen or legal resident of Thailand you expect the Thai goverment to subsidise your medical treatment ? And more hysterical is that you expect tourists to have insurance...

So tell me again in all your years working in Thailand, how much income tax have you paid in, and contributions to the unemployment/social security fund you have made

Self entitlement i think