Advice sought on medical insurance and personal accident plans

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Minnehaha said:

I had similar experience. With Generali. I was 41 or 42. Rates locked in. Great coverage. Class 1. 

Then they left Thailand and all business was bought by another company who doubled my premium. 

I was livid. 

Let it lapse as I was getting new policy and while in process I had a catastrophic accident. I wish I had not had insurance my whole life and then went 8 months without to have such an event. Big mistake. 

Bottom line: get it while young and keep it because the problem can be even worse if s thing happens and then you are a walking pre existing condition and coverage is no longer worth it and costs even more.

I think the thing is being a Brit we are use to free health insurance whether gov or private.

For Thai people health and gov hospital is not a problem unless their HiSo.

Private health insurance is a age cost problem for farangies in Thailand as l see it unless rich  

 

[Dan5]

On 8/8/2017 at 10:30 AM, Kwasaki said:

My one is Thai with  "  www.thailife.com "  l was happy with cover because l didn't start it until 68.

 

32,000 per year for health cover until 99 yr,  2000 per year accident cover until 80 yr.

 

It comes with 100,000 payment in either situation on popping clogs.

The above URL isn't to an insurance company.

[Dan5]

59 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

Get a quote from Cigna Global online. 1200 USA dollars a year for 57 year old man with 1,000,000 of USA dollar coverage 

Well, CIGNA might be good. But its an American company and I'm from the USA read all kinds of horror stories about American insurers canceling individual policies as soon as someone got sick with an expensive condition. The application would ask people for a list of every illness or condition they had in their life, no matter how minor.  Obviously difficult to do fro most people who are even in their 50s. Then when the policy holder would get some illness such as cancer that was really expensive to treat, the insurance company would investigate their health records looking for anything they might have ommited. I remember one case where someone got cancer and had not reported an allergy they had 20 years or so before and unrelated to the cancer. Their policy got canceled after paying into it for years.

 

I looked into getting a quote from CIGNA last year with some trepication and sure enough it wanted my complete medical history in great detail for my whole life. Unlike a few other polices I looked into that only wanted a history of treatments for the last 5 years or less and in some cases all hospital admissions in my life. Very reasonable and easy to answer accurately.

[Kwasaki]

51 minutes ago, connda said:

I'd suggest staying away for companies based in Thailand.  Overcharged and underinsured, and problematic.  

Go with an established international provider who provides expat insurance. Others have mentioned some options.  Also check out HealthCare International.  

So are western health insurers there too much for me,  l'l l just use my savings and keep on saving and if a trip is needed back to UK l'll get through customs and laid down on the exit foyer.  

[jeab1980]

We can well most can tell you a horror story about insurance companies and there many ways of wriggling out of paying or breaking promises of no increase in  payments for x amount of years.

For instance i had a hernia op two years ago no big deal my then insurance BUPA managed to wriggle out of paying. As i take Lanzaprazole for acid reflux and have been for years. They used that as an excuse to say my stomach lining was weak. Two years later  ie this week i finaly got a cheque of them. With a letter saying the normal this in no way admits any fault or wrong doing on our behalf. Now been let down again by a price hike despite promises of no increase for no claims.

Looking into others now so far not one has anything to offer me that i would belive 100%.

[Kwasaki]

31 minutes ago, Dan5 said:

The above URL isn't to an insurance company.

Well thailife.com  is on web but l wouldn't bother anyway.

[Dan5]

17 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

We can well most can tell you a horror story about insurance companies and there many ways of wriggling out of paying or breaking promises of no increase in  payments for x amount of years.

For instance i had a hernia op two years ago no big deal my then insurance BUPA managed to wriggle out of paying. As i take Lanzaprazole for acid reflux and have been for years. They used that as an excuse to say my stomach lining was weak. Two years later  ie this week i finaly got a cheque of them. With a letter saying the normal this in no way admits any fault or wrong doing on our behalf. Now been let down again by a price hike despite promises of no increase for no claims.

Looking into others now so far not one has anything to offer me that i would belive 100%.

Yes. But I'm not going to fill out an application, knowing that the information I give may not be complete (and probably isn't). So I decided not to take the risk with CIGNA. I bought insurance from a company that only require my medical history for the last 5 years and any conditions requiring hospital admissions. before that.

[pauleddy]

That's very flimsy of them about lansoprazole. You could take Omeprazole with is 50b a strip but is weaker. I don't work in GI, but I'm sure is doesnt "weaken" and disbar you from Hernia Op. That's cobblers. Unless it was a Hiatus Hernia and the oesophagus was bloated and letting GERD acid rise up., but even so--these companies get a lot of money from us, in order to keep us well.

 

They should also remember that A Stitch in Time Saves 9. Do they want you to get bleeding varices or Stomach cancer in 2 yrs? Then, they will pay 2,000,000 and 100,000 to bury you.

[jeab1980]

13 minutes ago, Dan5 said:

Yes. But I'm not going to fill out an application, knowing that the information I give may not be complete (and probably isn't). So I decided not to take the risk with CIGNA. I bought insurance from a company that only require my medical history for the last 5 years and any conditions requiring hospital admissions. before that.

Dont really understand what your saying i gave full disclosure as its what required. I told them about Lanzaprazole. Nothing was said about it limiting any future claims.

[jeab1980]

1 minute ago, pauleddy said:

That's very flimsy of them about lansoprazole. You could take Omeprazole with is 50b a strip but is weaker. I don't work in GI, but I'm sure is doesnt "weaken" and disbar you from Hernia Op. That's cobblers. Unless it was a Hiatus Hernia and the oesophagus was bloated and letting GERD acid rise up., but even so--these companies get a lot of money from us, in order to keep us well.

 

They should also remember that A Stitch in Time Saves 9. Do they want you to get bleeding varices or Stomach cancer in 2 yrs? Then, they will pay 2,000,000 and 100,000 to bury you.

I am on omeprazole in actual fact Lanzaprazole is readily available in Thailand i did have a supply sent over from UK. But it was a pain. Omeprazole does the job. You are correct its B/S about it weakening the tissue. It didnt stop the operation i paid for it but the insurance refused to pay out as i said. I got several specialist letters for BUPA saying theybwere indeed wrong whichnis why they have finaly paid out as the next step in fact it was due to go to court next month! Its just another ploy take money off you but try as hard as they can not to pay out.

[tonray]

28 minutes ago, pauleddy said:

That's very flimsy of them about lansoprazole. You could take Omeprazole with is 50b a strip but is weaker. I don't work in GI, but I'm sure is doesnt "weaken" and disbar you from Hernia Op. That's cobblers. Unless it was a Hiatus Hernia and the oesophagus was bloated and letting GERD acid rise up., but even so--these companies get a lot of money from us, in order to keep us well.

 

They should also remember that A Stitch in Time Saves 9. Do they want you to get bleeding varices or Stomach cancer in 2 yrs? Then, they will pay 2,000,000 and 100,000 to bury you.

They will deny burial payment on the grounds that since you were alive before dying it was an undeclared pre-existing condition.

[taipan1949]

On 8/13/2017 at 4:45 PM, Kwasaki said:

l withdraw my claim that health care is ideal for me, just got a renewal through of 10,000 baht hike, the 32,000 was supposed to be the same for 10 years they lied to us as l see it.

I had BUPA but being an honest man I told them I had "hypertension" which was handled nicely by one little pill a day. I had to sign a paper saying that if I suffered anything that "they" attributed to my "hypertension" they would not pay. I paid my premiums for about five years, I started when I was 60 or so, and they went up astronomically and all the time I am thinking if I end up in Bangkok/Pattaya hospital for anything serious "they, BUPA" could say that just about anything could be attributed to my "hypertension" so I said f..k it and cancelled it. I have friends who are not as honest as me who have been treated well by BUPA but at a price. I don't want to start talking out of my ass because I don't have all the information BUT, I have recently moved to the Philippines with my Filipina wife after 30 years in Thailand and I see that the Philippine Government offers retired folks with a Filipina wife good coverage at a minimum charge. I am in the process of getting my Retirement Residence which by the way are far less restrictive than Thai and once I get my "Card" I will look into the Philippine Health Coverage but so far it looks ok?

Edited August 14, 2017 by taipan1949
Not enough information given.

[taipan1949]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

So are western health insurers there too much for me,  l'l l just use my savings and keep on saving and if a trip is needed back to UK l'll get through customs and laid down on the exit foyer.  

I will do the same to Canada.

[Dan5]

55 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

Dont really understand what your saying i gave full disclosure as its what required. I told them about Lanzaprazole. Nothing was said about it limiting any future claims.

Sorry. My post was not about your problem, but about my not buying from CIGNA because of the application.

[Jonmarleesco]

On 8/13/2017 at 4:24 PM, jeab1980 said:

I was just about to respond and say i had the same and after the first year it suddenly went up by 8000bht a year. Rang them explained i was told no rise in premium untill i was 70. There answer you must have misheard and its not in writing anywhere on policy. My fault should have read the whole thing however would i have looked for that in the first place. Cancelled the policy they even tried to charge me for that no chance.

Looking around for a new provider.

Seems they omitted to mention the annual review.

[Jonmarleesco]

5 hours ago, Dan5 said:

Yes. But I'm not going to fill out an application, knowing that the information I give may not be complete (and probably isn't). So I decided not to take the risk with CIGNA. I bought insurance from a company that only require my medical history for the last 5 years and any conditions requiring hospital admissions. before that.

Beware. Even in the case of companies that utilise moratorium underwriting, rather than full medical underwriting - which sounds like a distinct possibility - any pre-existing condition needs to have received no treatment at all (that includes a check up) for a period of two years.

[Jonmarleesco]

14 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Accident insurance is easy to come by in Thailand at most ages my one is up to 80 year old, l reckon the cover amounts are reflected in how much you pay.

 

Health insurance is separate in my case the amount you pay as l have just found out is on age,  l don't think Bupa would be affordable at 70 yr old unless maybe you have been with them a long time.

 

If l knew what l knew now l would of just saved the money to one side.

 

Age group, typically, plus an annual review. Putting money to one side would work if you avoided any major issue until you had saved enough. $50,000-plus for a coronary and ICU, for example. But as you get older, the chance of serious health issues, and more than one, multiply.

[Jonmarleesco]

14 hours ago, Dan5 said:

I don't know what you consider reasonable and maybe you pay less because you started the policy 30 years ago, but when I was getting quotes on insurance last year as I remember BUPA was over $500/month for out patient only. I ended up getting MSI for less than $400/month and AXA and CIGNA were just a little more. And I think all of them include accident coverage. Of course the coverage was ridiculously high for Thailand. 2 million dollars/year. But it seemed like the choices were too low or too high coverage.

They wouldn't do outpatient only, only as an optional add-on.

[Jonmarleesco]

13 hours ago, ResandePohm said:

All your quotes seem exeptionally high. I have just received a quote for USD 3,697.20 per year. This was from Regency for Expats for health coverage as in patient.

 

Which would have depended on your age. And which will increase at intervals, in line with age increases.

[Jonmarleesco]

13 hours ago, ICECOOL said:

Bupa Thailand has just been sold to a US Health provider. Am waiting to see what changes they make.

Aetna. Premiums will undoubtedly go up, and substantially. As for service standards ...

[jeab1980]

6 hours ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Seems they omitted to mention the annual review.

They actually said  no rise in premium for 5 years

 

[Dan5]

Well for what it is worth, MSI just paid a fairly large claim of mine. 60 some thousand Baht. The whole thing was a little strange and I was worried a little. First of all I didn't bother to read the requirements for a claim before I went to the hospital. For MSI to work directly with the hospital to pay for the service, I needed to either get pre-authorization or if I was unable to do that, present my card as soon as I arrived at the hospital. I was unconscious when I arrived, though my wife could have presented the card on arrival if she had known. But since we didn't do that, I had to provide all the hospital documents that MSI needed. A lot of document. And the claim process took a long time. I had spent about 10 hours in the ICU and had numerous tests including an MRI, but they found nothing. Actually when I woke up at the hospital I felt fine, but they kept me there to do all these tests. And later when I talked to the neurologist about there being no diagnosis of why I passed out, she didn't seem concerned. But good thing I had insurance.

[Kwasaki]

12 hours ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Age group, typically, plus an annual review. Putting money to one side would work if you avoided any major issue until you had saved enough. $50,000-plus for a coronary and ICU, for example. But as you get older, the chance of serious health issues, and more than one, multiply.

Well l guess health insurance companies only want you to keep paying until you die of natural causes,  they don't want older people when they reach a certain age that's why they dump em. 

Just make sure you get very ill before they do.  

[Wake Up]

18 hours ago, Dan5 said:

Well, CIGNA might be good. But its an American company and I'm from the USA read all kinds of horror stories about American insurers canceling individual policies as soon as someone got sick with an expensive condition. The application would ask people for a list of every illness or condition they had in their life, no matter how minor.  Obviously difficult to do fro most people who are even in their 50s. Then when the policy holder would get some illness such as cancer that was really expensive to treat, the insurance company would investigate their health records looking for anything they might have ommited. I remember one case where someone got cancer and had not reported an allergy they had 20 years or so before and unrelated to the cancer. Their policy got canceled after paying into it for years.

 

I looked into getting a quote from CIGNA last year with some trepication and sure enough it wanted my complete medical history in great detail for my whole life. Unlike a few other polices I looked into that only wanted a history of treatments for the last 5 years or less and in some cases all hospital admissions in my life. Very reasonable and easy to answer accurately.

Cigna Global is a British company and I am American and for some reason they did not ask me the same as you. Only surgeries in the past and current treatment for prexisting conditions. Paper work was simple and easy. And I am covered in almost every country in the world. What I like about Cigna Global is insurance companies have the reputation for denying claims and I can sue them in the USA or England if that occurs and get a lawyer on a contingency fee. In the USA I can sue for treble damages in some states because Cigna Global is not protected by America's strict ERISA laws for employer purchased insurance products.  Does not mean I want to sue or will recover treble damages but at least I have some leverage if they deny my claim. And I get a jury trial in USA.  

Edited August 15, 2017 by Wake Up

[Dan5]

1 hour ago, Wake Up said:

Cigna Global is a British company and I am American and for some reason they did not ask me the same as you. Only surgeries in the past and current treatment for prexisting conditions. Paper work was simple and easy. And I am covered in almost every country in the world. What I like about Cigna Global is insurance companies have the reputation for denying claims and I can sue them in the USA or England if that occurs and get a lawyer on a contingency fee. In the USA I can sue for treble damages in some states because Cigna Global is not protected by America's strict ERISA laws for employer purchased insurance products.  Does not mean I want to sue or will recover treble damages but at least I have some leverage if they deny my claim. And I get a jury trial in USA.  

Well actually CIGNA is an American company with a subsidiary in GB. Don't know why you got a different application than I did. The questionaire was 2 or 3 pages long, asking for a medical history (my whole life) for every imaginable medical condition.

[Dan5]

Just now, Dan5 said:

Well actually CIGNA is an American company with a subsidiary in GB. Don't know why you got a different application than I did. The questionaire was 2 or 3 pages long, asking for a medical history (my whole life) for every imaginable medical condition.

Possibly you got the form from the UK subsidiary and I got mine from the parent company. I don't know.

[Dan5]

Just now, Dan5 said:

Possibly you got the form from the UK subsidiary and I got mine from the parent company. I don't know.

Health care in the USA is different from all other countries. I noticed that the maybe 12 quotes I looked at all gave international coverage, excluding the USA. You had to pay extra for coverage that included the USA.

[Mitkof Island]

On 8/14/2017 at 8:49 AM, Antonymous said:

I've had BUPA for about 30 years and have always had good service. BUPA Thailand has very reasonable premiums and you can choose from about four levels to suit your needs. You can choose to have only in-patient cover which drastically reduces the premium too.

 

I have done alot of research on personal accident insurance and found that Bangkok Insurance had the best policy - better than adding it to my BUPA. I recommend you check them out in your own search. You can go directly to any Bangkok Insurance office to sign up for it.

 

Where are they located Bangkok Insurance? Many locations in Thailand? Have phone number? How old can you be to apply?

[gk10002000]

On 8/14/2017 at 6:13 AM, Wake Up said:

Get a quote from Cigna Global online. 1200 USA dollars a year for 57 year old man with 1,000,000 of USA dollar coverage 

While I like that price and coverage limit, how useful is it in Thailand?  Do hospitals accept it and does Cigna direct pay or do you have to pay the hospital and then submit a claim for reimbursement?

[Caiman]

Contemplating http://www.pacificcrosshealth.com/en/ for medical insurance. Range of plans with variable deductibles and excesses. Covers most big hospitals in Thailand with direct pay subject to any excess (40K = 25% discount up to 300K = 50%). I'm under 60 but the problem I see for many is getting your first initial cover after 65 which is the age that many retire and relocate to Thailand. Also seems that specific Thai insurance companies just drop you when you reach a certain age.