Medical Insurance

[Sofa_King]

Medical Insurance ,do you need it and do you have it ?



I was on Facebook yesterday and a post came up from Stickboy and he was slagging this guy off for telling people you don’t need medical insurance in Thailand and with Stickboy saying " the guy left me wanting to slap his chops" for talking BS.   LINK..... The Worst Advice From An Expat Living In Thailand… EVER!!!    I must admit I did find the guy a bit of a twat though

Now I've lived here for over 15 years and never had Medical Insurance and luckily for me I have never needed to use any Hospital Services here , apart from a few minor cuts and scraps, having a mole removed and going to the Dentist routinely. At the same time if I had been involved in a major accident my money set aside for a rainy day would be gone !.
If I had been paying Medical Insurance for the last 15 years I could have forked out anywhere between 500,000 and  1 Million baht depending on which company and what cover I had.
The funny thing is , when ever someone comes to Thailand on Holiday and has an accident but NO Medical Insurance and has an accident many Expats on forums rant and rave about what idiots they are for not having Medical Insurance but at the same time the same people don't have it either!!!. The same people will happily put there hand in their pocket when one of the locals needs a non life threatening operation that cost's around 60.000 baht. Now IMO if you can't raise 60k for small Opp yourself then you've made a major f**k up somewhere down the line !!

Out of all the people I know personally, I don't know anyone that has Medical Insurance  or even House Insurance. I was offered House Insurance a few years ago for as little as a few 1000 baht but still declined the offer . I guess like many I feel invincible and serious illness or bad luck will never happen to me.
A friend of mine has cancer a while back and needed chemo, not cheap at 10k a time but still cheaper than if he had paid Medical Insurance for all the time he had lived in Thailand  .Many people report how good and inexpensiveness the Public Thai Hospitals are ,so you would need a serious medical problem to clear our any savings you may have if you don't have Medical Insurance.
Many UK Ex-pats that are getting older and finding out they are having health problems are contemplating going back to the UK to be treated,though they may have to tell a few white lies to get the help they need.

So what do you do for heath cover...risk it like me and many others or pay for Medical Insurance ?

[iammike]

We have unlimited cover (Worldwide excl. US of A) for my wife and myself from an Expat Insurance back in Europe.

Price for the two of us is around 120.000 THB per year.

Outpatient we have to pay ourselves and claim it back Online (usually very fast)
Inpatient, we (or the hospital) have to contact Euro Cross and they pick up the bill.

Edit: I am not going to risk it without Health Insurance, I had a heart attack when I was younger and without Health Insurance (if it's going to happen again) I would be very very afraid of the bill when you need surgery etc etc etc. But as they say: Up 2 U.

[davureborn]

So are you seriously telling us that all the money that you would have spent on health insurance has been put into your bank account and never touched? I very much doubt it. Somebody is going to have to pay what is possibly going to be an enormous medical bill, if you die that may well be your family, if you have one, which I am sure they will be happy about. I have a minimal health insurance, which won't cover all my expenses for sure, ‎฿15 000 a year (http://www.thaihealth.co.th/product_simply_eng.php), plus repatriation insurance and a little cash in the bank. I'll bet that a lot of guys that have no health insurance insure their car first class and see no contradiction.
Another factor is that it is difficult to find a company over the age of 65 and almost impossible after the age of 70 that will accept you. This is the age when the first intimations of mortality begin to manifest themselves and also the age when companies are likely to resiliate your contract / start raising your premiums until you can no longer afford it. Everybody should have some kind of plan and relying on the kindness of strangers or your Thai family isn't really a plan.
If you have nobody to be responsible to apart from yourself then I guess that in that case it IS up to you. Maybe we can talk about it sometime when the doctor tells you you need a triple bypass, do you have a million Baht?

[CO-CO]

On the point of travel insurance I would argue that coming to Thailand without such cover is negligence.

It would not be unreasonable for Thailand to refuse entry to anyone without cover. You need EUR 30,000 cover in place before you can apply for a Schengen visa.

[iammike]

<snip>

It would not be unreasonable for Thailand to refuse entry to anyone without cover. You need EUR 30,000 cover in place before you can apply for a Schengen visa.

5555 Funny that you mention this. My wife almost got her Visa to Schengen refused because  she didn't have a temporary (3 month insurance) but a Full (renewable year by year) insurance with a European Company and they weren't prepared for that. It took some explaining but finally they got it

[Sofa_King]

So are you seriously telling us that all the money that you would have spent on health insurance has been put into your bank account and never touched? I very much doubt it. Somebody is going to have to pay what is possibly going to be an enormous medical bill, if you die that may well be your family, if you have one, which I am sure they will be happy about. 

A course I haven't put all the money I would have spent on health insurance in the bank . And if I die because I can't afford the treatment I need then so be it . It Happens all the time in Thailand ...and in other countries too ! 

I have a minimal health insurance, which won't cover all my expenses for sure, ‎฿15 000 a year (http://www.thaihealth.co.th/product_simply_eng.php), plus repatriation insurance and a little cash in the bank. I'll bet that a lot of guys that have no health insurance insure their car first class and see no contradiction.

I guess some cover is better than nothing, it should ease the burden for your family if the worst happens  . But us Brits are used to getting all our medical cover for free, god bless the NHS. Maybe I'll head for the UK, if and when the time come if my pot doesn't cover the costs       

Another factor is that it is difficult to find a company over the age of 65 and almost impossible after the age of 70 that will accept you. This is the age when the first intimations of mortality begin to manifest themselves and also the age when companies are likely to resiliate your contract / start raising your premiums until you can no longer afford it. Everybody should have some kind of plan and relying on the kindness of strangers or your Thai family isn't really a plan.

Yes I have heard of some companies that resiliate your contract /or start raising your premiums to unfordable prices ( bastard's )  

If you have nobody to be responsible to apart from yourself then I guess that in that case it IS up to you. Maybe we can talk about it sometime when the doctor tells you you need a triple bypass, do you have a million Baht?

triple bypass !!!...nearer 2 Million, maybe time to up your health insurance davureborn. You wouldn't want to be a burden   


BTW ...... Have you noticed the only two people so far to reply to this thread are people that have some sort of Health Insurance . So come on ,don't be shy....those with no health insurance tell us know what their plan is when the time comes 

[iammike]

<snip>
But us Brits are used to getting all our medical cover for free, god bless the NHS. Maybe I'll head for the UK, if and when the time come if my pot doesn't cover the costs       

I am not a Brit, but I've heard that if Brits spend more time abroad (during the year) then in the UK, you would have to pay for the procedures yourself. Even if this is NOT True, it will be more and more difficult for a Brit living abroad to get coverage back in the UK when they return after years of absence !

So, I wouldn't rely on the NHS (if you are spending a lot of your time abroad). But again I could be completely wrong.

[Sofa_King]

<snip>
But us Brits are used to getting all our medical cover for free, god bless the NHS. Maybe I'll head for the UK, if and when the time come if my pot doesn't cover the costs       

I am not a Brit, but I've heard that if Brits spend more time abroad (during the year) then in the UK, you would have to pay for the procedures yourself. Even if this is NOT True, it will be more and more difficult for a Brit living abroad to get coverage back in the UK when they return after years of absence !

So, I wouldn't rely on the NHS (if you are spending a lot of your time abroad). But again I could be completely wrong.

I did say in my OP

Many UK Ex-pats that are getting older and finding out they are having health problems are contemplating going back to the UK to be treated,though they may have to tell a few white lies to get the help they need.

It does piss me off a little seeing that I  worked ,paid tax and NI for most of my working life in the UK knowing If i was to go back I would be treated like a foreigner in my own country just because I've lived abroad for a while .      But I think you would get treated and if you can't blag your way around things they can hardly get blood from a stone !


I think its only a matter for time before Expats will be forced to pay some sort of health insurance here in Thailand  !!

 Uninsured foreigners burdens Thai public hospitals

[dimple joe]

BTW ...... Have you noticed the only two people so far to reply to this thread are people that have some sort of Health Insurance . So come on ,don't be shy....those with no health insurance tell us know what their plan is when the time comes 

I'm not shy - I have no medical insurance - when the time comes my plan is twofold :-

a)    Return to the UK and if asked to pay, go to a different hospital and present myself as a deaf and dumb Moldovan transgender refugee. I'll then get free medical care and probably a house, car and benefits.

b)   I've heard about a new thing called I believe "Crowdfunding" - that should cover it.

[Sofa_King]

BTW ...... Have you noticed the only two people so far to reply to this thread are people that have some sort of Health Insurance . So come on ,don't be shy....those with no health insurance tell us know what their plan is when the time comes 

I'm not shy - I have no medical insurance - when the time comes my plan is twofold :-

a)    Return to the UK and if asked to pay, go to a different hospital and present myself as a deaf and dumb Moldovan transgender refugee. I'll then get free medical care and probably a house, car and benefits.

b)   I've heard about a new thing called I believe "Crowdfunding" - that should cover it.

And not forgetting Cyberbeg.Com   

 

[CO-CO]

BTW ...... Have you noticed the only two people so far to reply to this thread are people that have some sort of Health Insurance . So come on ,don't be shy....those with no health insurance tell us know what their plan is when the time comes 

I'm not shy - I have no medical insurance - when the time comes my plan is twofold :-

a)    Return to the UK and if asked to pay, go to a different hospital and present myself as a deaf and dumb Moldovan transgender refugee. I'll then get free medical care and probably a house, car and benefits.

b)   I've heard about a new thing called I believe "Crowdfunding" - that should cover it.

Deaf and dumb Moldovan transgender.......................




I have a feeling you might just pull it off DJ.

[davureborn]

You have to bear in mind that an airline isn't going to transport a person threatening to pop his clogs during the flight. A friend told me that he is not certain that a doctor will certify him fit to fly from the UK as he is 65 and has had two heart attacks, so airlines do consider this. That's why a repatriation insurance is important.
For myself, I would have to get my ailing ass down to the Swiss embassy to announce my departure from Thailand to get free treatment at home, I gave up on renewing my UK passport long ago. I assume that UK citizens would have to do the same?

[CO-CO]

You have to bear in mind that an airline isn't going to transport a person threatening to pop his clogs during the flight. A friend told me that he is not certain that a doctor will certify him fit to fly from the UK as he is 65 and has had two heart attacks, so airlines do consider this. That's why a repatriation insurance is important.
For myself, I would have to get my ailing ass down to the Swiss embassy to announce my departure from Thailand to get free treatment at home, I gave up on renewing my UK passport long ago. I assume that UK citizens would have to do the same?

No. In answer to your final question.

The physical ability to travel is a good point, but in most casesa British citizen can avail themselves of free treatment if they play their cards right.

[urleft]

My view.

If you are depending on your GVT to take of you, you are going to loose. 


You are trapped into the existing "promised" system.   

Did you vote to burden your children to take care of you thru taxes?  Guess what, they can vote you dead. 



My advice is to keep your money. 

[Prakhonchai Nick]

I have not posted on this forum for a year or 2 now, but insurance was my livliehood in the UK, and I have formed many opinions over the years as to what should be insured and what not..

Expats basically require health insurance, motor insurance and house insurance.

Just as buying/renting a property/business etc is invariably down to location/location and location, health insurance is down to planning.

When considering becoming an expat, health insurance in your proposed adoptive country should be uppermost in your plans. Obtaining cover when aged 40/50 with no health problems is considerably easier than leaving it to 60+, when like so many people you are taking blood pressure tablets. cholesterol reduction tablets etc etc. Most Insurers will exclude any health problem that could be attributable to the reason for taking these medicines, leaving you paying a large premium for little overall cover.

The insurance I took out (which was available to all Brits), but is no longer on offer, froze your age at what it was when you first commenced cover. My only increases over the years have been due to inflation. My cover is limited (due to the lack of funds all those years ago), but would certainly go a long way  towards the cost of a triple heart bypass. I recently claimed and was paid in full around 300,000baht for 2 heart artery stents.

Insurance provides peace of mind. For simple health problems, one only has to consider where to go for treatment, and not have to worry about where the money will be found.

Last year I assisted a 65+ year old expat to obtain  minimal health insurance cover,  Recently he developoed a health issue and although not fully covered by his limited insurance cover, he was able to have a successful operation without having to worry too much where the money to pay was coming from.

Returning to ones home country may be an option (a lot of red tape involved I suspect), but many health issues which rear up, require immediate attention and would not permit the return back home

If you are 60/65+ now and are taking a daily assortment of pills, then I am afraid you have likely left it too late, but if you are a younger expat, healthy and fit, then now is the time to sort matters out . Health issues will invariably come to the fore in later years.