VA Health Care for Expat Veterans

[Amphoephen]

2 hours ago, Kim1950 said:

This seems odd. My disability is directly deposited to my bank in the US and I then plan on this to be included with with wire transfers to BB.

I have my disability direct deposited into My Bangkok Bank Account, there are no extra fees and certainly not the huge wire transfer fee. I know that Chase bank charges $42 USD for every wire Transfer, and the great thing about Bangkok Bank is that they have a Branch in New York, so there are to internatinal transfer fees. Something to concider to save a lot of money in the long run.

[Utley]

7 hours ago, Amphoephen said:

I have my disability direct deposited into My Bangkok Bank Account, there are no extra fees and certainly not the huge wire transfer fee. I know that Chase bank charges $42 USD for every wire Transfer, and the great thing about Bangkok Bank is that they have a Branch in New York, so there are to internatinal transfer fees. Something to concider to save a lot of money in the long run.

Using Bangkok Bank in Thailand  with their U.S. subsidiary in New York is the way to go.  Open a bank account with Bkk Bank in Thailand then have your VA disability payment sent to their New York branch referencing your Thailand based bank account number.  The NY branch will automatically transfer your funds into your Bkk Bank account in Thailand overnight at the best exchange rates possible at the time with no fees. 

[Utley]

10 hours ago, Kim1950 said:

This is correct and it also covers treatment that is not available at your primary VA Hospital. My last two colonoscopies were outsourced to a private specialist. Theses were at no cost and were not service connected.

 

VA healthcare is tiered into Priority Groups 1-8 based on % of disability and-or service medals, so the level of service is not the same for all veterans. There is considerations for income. Some VA Hospitals are better, even much better than others. 

 

Mine in Bedford, MA, is great, a golf course, indoor, a gym, primary care physicians, urgent care, free eye exams and glasses, walk in counseling, fee yoga and meditation classes, free produce, weekly activities, job and housing assistance, and no waiting. I get meds. This is one factor in my consideration in retiring in Thailand as I get older the this VA is a great backstop for free care. I am in Group 3.

 

If you were in Priority Group One, you would passing over a lot of benefits. Group 8 not so much. They may even drop coverage for Group 8. Has anyone applied for VA healthcare in the US and been placed into a Priority Group. I know veterans who retired in Panama and when necessary the visit the Bedford VA. 

 

You have good idea about VA services or Medicare for Expats. 'Young people ' aren't the problem. It would an administrative nightmare. They can't even manage these services in US and it's plagued with fraud.

The question here is why are veterans who live outside of the U.S. excluded from the program?  If the concept is valid for U.S. based vets then it is also valid for non U.S. based vets.  The FMP program could readily be expanded to handle the payments.

[Utley]

9 hours ago, Kim1950 said:

This seems odd. My disability is directly deposited to my bank in the US and I then plan on this to be included with with wire transfers to BB.

We are talking about two different things - a direct deposit of your disability funds vs. the reimbursement of medical care expenses related to that disability incurred by you when you are outside of the U.S. via the FMP.  For example, I receive a monthly disability amount for an agent orange related disability but I also have to visit a hospital in Thailand (where I live) every 90 days for blood work.  I am reimbursed for the cost of the blood work via the FMP. 

[dddave]

13 hours ago, Kim1950 said:

If you were in Priority Group One, you would passing over a lot of benefits. Group 8 not so much. They may even drop coverage for Group 8. Has anyone applied for VA healthcare in the US and been placed into a Priority Group. I know veterans who retired in Panama and when necessary the visit the Bedford VA. 

 

When I registered and applied for VA benefits in Jamaica Plain last year I was placed in Group 5.  I was a USN-Reservist who  server only 23 months of my 24 month active duty due to an "Early Out"   For years thereafter, I was denied all VA benefits because of that one month.  Finally, about 15 years ago it was recognized as a conspiracy by the USN to avoid providing benefits to reservists and I became eligible for benefits but not retroactively.

 

Shortly after registering, I had cardiac by-pass surgery at W. Roxbury VA Hospital and was impressed with most of the care I received.  

From what you write, Bedford sounds pretty good.

[Pib]

4 hours ago, Utley said:

Using Bangkok Bank in Thailand  with their U.S. subsidiary in New York is the way to go.  Open a bank account with Bkk Bank in Thailand then have your VA disability payment sent to their New York branch referencing your Thailand based bank account number.  The NY branch will automatically transfer your funds into your Bkk Bank account in Thailand overnight at the best exchange rates possible at the time with no fees. 

 

It is "not" fee-free on the Bangkok Bank end.  

 

There is one NY branch fee and one local branch fee.  These "two" fees as shown below.  These fees will not appear anywhere on your account/passbook since the fees are applied "before" posting to your account.  This fools a lot of people into thinking no fees were applied but indeed the fees were applied.  

 

However, if you are signed up for Bangkok Bank's free SMS Remittance Alert the SMS you get when the funds post to your account will show the two fees.  The NY branch fee is shown indirectly since you will notice the amount of dollars arriving your account is missing some funds...usually $5 or $10 based on the typical size of benefit payments (the NY fee was sliced off the funds as they flowed thru the NY branch)...and then it will directly show the local branch fee in baht being applied.  

 

 

 

[Kim1950]

The New Decision Ready Claims Program. You might qualify then be able to use FMP.  Seems you can use a VSO sponsor. I am told there are VFWs or American Legions in Thailand. Beats me, but worth seeing what's available. 

 

https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/drc.asp?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fb2&utm_content=MA&utm_campaign=MA

 

Also these diseases have known to have been caused by Agent Orange.

 

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/index.asp

 

Some veterans who were stationed in Thailand can qualify as being exposed to Agent Orange.

 

 

[Utley]

10 hours ago, Kim1950 said:

The New Decision Ready Claims Program. You might qualify then be able to use FMP.  Seems you can use a VSO sponsor. I am told there are VFWs or American Legions in Thailand. Beats me, but worth seeing what's available. 

 

https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/drc.asp?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fb2&utm_content=MA&utm_campaign=MA

 

Also these diseases have known to have been caused by Agent Orange.

 

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/index.asp

 

Some veterans who were stationed in Thailand can qualify as being exposed to Agent Orange.

 

 

Thank you for the information but we seem to be talking about two different things.  I am already rated 70% disabled by the VA in regard to agent orange related illnesses and I use the FMP to get reimbursed for medical expenses I incur in Thailand directly related to those disabilities.

 

What I am trying to do is get the VA to cover non-disability related health care expenses for expat veterans in the same manner that they provide non-disability related health care for U.S. based veterans. All I am asking is that expat veterans be treated like any other veteran, no more - no less.  To date, the VA won't even discuss the issue and will not respond when I ask the question "Why are expat veterans treated differently than stateside veterans?".

 

If you know the answer to that question, I would like to hear what you have to say.

[Utley]

On 9/10/2017 at 8:37 PM, Pib said:

 

It is "not" fee-free on the Bangkok Bank end.  

 

There is one NY branch fee and one local branch fee.  These "two" fees as shown below.  These fees will not appear anywhere on your account/passbook since the fees are applied "before" posting to your account.  This fools a lot of people into thinking no fees were applied but indeed the fees were applied.  

 

However, if you are signed up for Bangkok Bank's free SMS Remittance Alert the SMS you get when the funds post to your account will show the two fees.  The NY branch fee is shown indirectly since you will notice the amount of dollars arriving your account is missing some funds...usually $5 or $10 based on the typical size of benefit payments (the NY fee was sliced off the funds as they flowed thru the NY branch)...and then it will directly show the local branch fee in baht being applied.  

 

 

 

Thank you - that is good to know.  So if I transfer $2,000 to Thailand from the U.S. via Bangkok Bank, I will incur $10 of fees directly deducted from the transfer ($5.00 plus 1/4 of 1%).  Pretty reasonable compared to the alternatives.

[Pib]

1 hour ago, Utley said:

Thank you - that is good to know.  So if I transfer $2,000 to Thailand from the U.S. via Bangkok Bank, I will incur $10 of fees directly deducted from the transfer ($5.00 plus 1/4 of 1%).  Pretty reasonable compared to the alternatives.

Yeap, for a $2,000 transfer the  NY branch flow-thru fee would be $5 (they slice off this fee as the funds flow thru them) plus on your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch end there will be the 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) fee which works out to around $5  for this arriving amount at the current exchange rate.  End result a total of around $10 in transfer fees.  

 

For a $2K transfer/payment, which means $1,995 would arrive your in-Thailand branch then their fee would work out to the minimum Bt200 charge since since 0.25% is approx Bt164 (approx $5) for the arriving amount.   

 

And beware of the NY branch fee sliding scale as shown in my earlier post because starting at $2000.01 (one penny over $2K) their fee jumps to $10.  That same $10 fee applies all the way up to $50,000.  The "approximate" $2,000 amount seems to be a monthly amount a lot of folks might send/receive.  

 

So if someone is doing a personal transfer from their U.S. bank for "approximately" $2,000, be sure that approximate amount is not a penny over $2,000 if you want to save $5 in transfer fees.   At this  fee trigger level a person who sends $2005 and another person who sends $2,000 would end up with the exact same amount posting to their Bangkok Bank account because in both those cases only $1995 would arrive their in-Thailand bank account.   And a person who sends $2,000.01 would end up with $4.99 less hitting his account versus the person who sent exactly $2,000.  Yeap, a mere penny can make around a $5 (approx Bt165 difference).

Edited September 12, 2017 by Pib