Who to choose?

[orientfan]

Help! I'm a 56 year old retired teacher living in Pattaya. My Health Insurance last year with Bupa was B46,500.

A year goes by with no claims or contact from me. The renewal premium is B65,000!

Who do readers recommend for emergency only treatment/ discovery of terminal illness or accident requiring repatriation etc.?

Thanks for any and all useful info.!!!

[al007]

Difficult, am not sure where you come from

 

If from the UK and you have somewhere to stay there, that can be your fall back

 

I am 72 and have to self insure, and currently am facing bills of around 1.5M, I come from the UK but have nowhere to stay if I go there, so I have to pay here

 

Your premiums are only going to increase so by the time you are 80 you will have paid 25 yrs premiums

 

If push came to shove could you put your hands on 500,000 batt , even by using credit cards, if yes maybe you should consider self insuring

 

Another problem is often the lower cost insurance have low levels of cover, so you pay insurance and are still not fully covered

 

At 56, do you think you are OK for sya 5/6 years, if so and you put the premiums on one side you will build your own pot

 

With premiums continually going up you are facing insurance premiums over the next 25 years of well over  maybe 2.5M

 

Tough decision, but make sure you read the small print before you pay any premium, also you might pay for 12 yrs have one bad year, and insurer refuses to renew except at exorbitant premium, Insurers are generally not nice people

[Jeffrey346]

Marry a Thai woman who works for the Government...  Free insurance..

[dotpoom]

3 hours ago, al007 said:

Difficult, am not sure where you come from

 

If from the UK and you have somewhere to stay there, that can be your fall back

 

I am 72 and have to self insure, and currently am facing bills of around 1.5M, I come from the UK but have nowhere to stay if I go there, so I have to pay here

 

Your premiums are only going to increase so by the time you are 80 you will have paid 25 yrs premiums

 

If push came to shove could you put your hands on 500,000 batt , even by using credit cards, if yes maybe you should consider self insuring

 

Another problem is often the lower cost insurance have low levels of cover, so you pay insurance and are still not fully covered

 

At 56, do you think you are OK for sya 5/6 years, if so and you put the premiums on one side you will build your own pot

 

With premiums continually going up you are facing insurance premiums over the next 25 years of well over  maybe 2.5M

 

Tough decision, but make sure you read the small print before you pay any premium, also you might pay for 12 yrs have one bad year, and insurer refuses to renew except at exorbitant premium, Insurers are generally not nice people

That is a very full answer and I hope the OP has gained something from it. Good luck to you youself too.

(And myself included).

[thailand49]

Been in that boat, sad to say welcome abroad the boat.

I had Bupa same as you and ended moving for more coverage and less money!

There is a guy who sells AXA, he is with the Pattaya Expat Club, I think his name is Neng, he has a desk at Pattaya People Newspaper as you walk in.  He has three policies inpatient 18-59  700,000= 20,503  1Million = 25,519 1.5 Million = 36,515,  great thing with this policy and is cover till 75 years of age. Of course like most selling in Thailand, read the fine print.

Good luck

Edited January 6, 2017 by thailand49

[jpinx]

Take a look at Cigna - you can get a quote online - http://cignaglobal.com/

This is not a recommendation, just another place to look at the numbers and cover offered.

[Grubster]

This is or should be a big issue for all expats here. I have free care in the US but nothing here, the insurance companies won't even tell me what is excluded in their policies. I finally gave up looking and don't really know where to turn.  I do have family back home that would pay for a big emergency until I am able to make it back to the US for care, so I guess I will just leave it at that until I can find a good insurance. I would like a policy that would only pay inpatient care until I am stabilized and fit to fly. 

 

[Wake Up]

I have Cigna global and I am 56. I pay 87 USA dollars a month for coverage in every country in the world except I can only be in the USA 90 days a calendar year. I have a 10,000 dollar not baht deductible that I self insure but have 1,000,000 USA dollars not baht of coverage. I found Cigna cheaper than AXA. You can get lower deductibles at a higher cost but I really only want coverage if I have a heart attack or something major as I pay local doctor fees out of pocket. Local doctors in Thailand are not that expensive compared to other countries. Not an easy answer for you. I am lucky I can self insure the 10,000 and can afford the 87 dollars a month and can sue Cigna in the USA or England if they do not pay. 

 

At age 65 we get Medicare but it does not cover anything outside of the USA. Hope this helps but health insurance is a difficult cost benefit analysis. 

[Wake Up]

Forgot to tell you that if you do not need or want coverage in the USA then the premiums for Cigna are not 87 a month but are only 72 a month or 15 dollars a month less. You get coverage in every country in the world except the USA. 

[Jonmarleesco]

11 hours ago, al007 said:

Difficult, am not sure where you come from

 

If from the UK and you have somewhere to stay there, that can be your fall back

 

I am 72 and have to self insure, and currently am facing bills of around 1.5M, I come from the UK but have nowhere to stay if I go there, so I have to pay here

 

Your premiums are only going to increase so by the time you are 80 you will have paid 25 yrs premiums

 

If push came to shove could you put your hands on 500,000 batt , even by using credit cards, if yes maybe you should consider self insuring

 

Another problem is often the lower cost insurance have low levels of cover, so you pay insurance and are still not fully covered

 

At 56, do you think you are OK for sya 5/6 years, if so and you put the premiums on one side you will build your own pot

 

With premiums continually going up you are facing insurance premiums over the next 25 years of well over  maybe 2.5M

 

Tough decision, but make sure you read the small print before you pay any premium, also you might pay for 12 yrs have one bad year, and insurer refuses to renew except at exorbitant premium, Insurers are generally not nice people

Self insuring doesn't work if you are faced with a hefty bill. And they will get heftier as you get older. On the other hand, health insurance with a hefty excess would help.

 

'... you might pay for 12 yrs have one bad year, and insurer refuses to renew except at exorbitant premium, Insurers are generally not nice people.' They're businesses, not charities. Your claim is nonsense - unless you personally had the bad luck to pick a questionable insurer.

[jacko45k]

I would consider a visit to The Expats Club. They do a group plan which is obviously not as comprehensive as BUPA, but is a lot cheaper. Like you I started off with quite expensive and very comprehensive insurance, but was hit by very high renewal premium increases after one year, and had no claims whatsoever. There is also another broker they use who could perhaps make some recommendations. I think a lesser policy, and keeping some cash handy to supplement it in case, is another option.

[dandythai]

I was insured by Bupa for the last 17 years, never claimed anything. Now I staped over to MSH (French) because they have a collective insurance, (by Bupa individual insurance, by expensive claims the premiums go sky-rocketing up to 400%), same premiums as by Bupa but 30 million baht coverage and not 2 million, as I had by Bupa. Asked Bupa to pay the No Claim Bonus for the last year, they have refused,to do so because ... ( seriously!) I quit their insurance ! They punish me by staping over to another insurer. This happened to me after 17 years insured by Bupa ! Never, but never Bupa again !

[orientfan]

Thanks very much for all the above advice. I should have said I'm from UK and have somewhere to stay in Thailand.
My previous Bupa policy had out patients exclusion and so have funded a few (very minor) hospital visits myself in last 12 months.

A few people have mentioned AA Brokers who have offices in Hua Hin and Pattaya. Can anyone comment on their experience with AA?
AA advise that the advantage of using a broker is that they assist with any claim rather than dealing directly with the insurer.
Does anyone of first hand experience of AA's assistance when making a claim?

Thanks again for the advice here. It's much appreciated!

[FarangRimPing]

On 1/6/2017 at 8:44 PM, Wake Up said:

I have Cigna global and I am 56. I pay 87 USA dollars a month for coverage in every country in the world except I can only be in the USA 90 days a calendar year. I have a 10,000 dollar not baht deductible that I self insure but have 1,000,000 USA dollars not baht of coverage. I found Cigna cheaper than AXA. You can get lower deductibles at a higher cost but I really only want coverage if I have a heart attack or something major as I pay local doctor fees out of pocket. Local doctors in Thailand are not that expensive compared to other countries. Not an easy answer for you. I am lucky I can self insure the 10,000 and can afford the 87 dollars a month and can sue Cigna in the USA or England if they do not pay. 

 

At age 65 we get Medicare but it does not cover anything outside of the USA. Hope this helps but health insurance is a difficult cost benefit analysis. 

 

I really like this solution. Buy an insurance plan with a high deductible but very high limits, which protect you from catastrophic events. Self-fund the minor expenses, which are the expenses that normally cause the high cost of insurance. Think of all of the administration costs involved for the insurer and providers.

 

This is what insurance was meant to be for, protecting against catastrophies.

[JKfarang]

On 1/6/2017 at 8:44 PM, Wake Up said:

I have Cigna global and I am 56. I pay 87 USA dollars a month for coverage in every country in the world except I can only be in the USA 90 days a calendar year. I have a 10,000 dollar not baht deductible that I self insure but have 1,000,000 USA dollars not baht of coverage. I found Cigna cheaper than AXA. You can get lower deductibles at a higher cost but I really only want coverage if I have a heart attack or something major as I pay local doctor fees out of pocket. Local doctors in Thailand are not that expensive compared to other countries. Not an easy answer for you. I am lucky I can self insure the 10,000 and can afford the 87 dollars a month and can sue Cigna in the USA or England if they do not pay. 

 

At age 65 we get Medicare but it does not cover anything outside of the USA. Hope this helps but health insurance is a difficult cost benefit analysis. 

 

41 minutes ago, FarangRimPing said:

 

I really like this solution. Buy an insurance plan with a high deductible but very high limits, which protect you from catastrophic events. Self-fund the minor expenses, which are the expenses that normally cause the high cost of insurance. Think of all of the administration costs involved for the insurer and providers.

 

This is what insurance was meant to be for, protecting against catastrophies.

 

I am in a similar situation (i..e. retired in Thailand, currently without insurance here but do have in the US and concerned about not having coverage to protect me from an expensive hospital stay).  I noticed the references to this company, did a brief review of their website and also an internet search on the company name.  Though I understand a lot of information out there is incorrect or misleading, I found a couple of sites which gave me the impression that there MAY be something to worry about with respect to a high percentage of claims being denied.

 

Again, I don't know whether the information I reviewed is accurate or not. I am merely trying to point out that there are many issues to consider. Personally, did not think about denial of claims until I tried to search for additional information.  Concerning administrative costs, executive compensation also appeared to me to be excessive; which, unfortunately, for a US based company seems to be the norm these days.