New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

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Dodger
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Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by Dodger »

traveller123 wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:11 pm My Pacific Cross insurance policy is due for renewal at the end of this month
Traveller123: If you don't mind me asking, which policy do you have with Pacific Cross?

I'm only asking because I have the Pacific Cross "Standard Extra Plus" Policy with a 40,000 THB deductible and it cost me half of what you're paying and it includes 60,000 THB of outpatient coverage. Granted, I'm a few years younger than you (67) but the tables I saw last year didn't show this policy increasing anywhere near as high as yours.
traveller123

Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by traveller123 »

Dodger wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:14 pm Traveller123: If you don't mind me asking, which policy do you have with Pacific Cross?
Dodger, the plan is described as The Maxima Plan.
The GROSS premiums are:
Age 61/65 81567 baht
Age 66/70 112430
Age 71/75 167542
Age 76/80 224859
I reduce the gross premium by
33509 No outpatient cover
33509 I pay the first 40,000 of any claim
20105 No claims discount
If I remember correctly I had to accept 25% additional co payment as that being the only way they would cover me.

I have done a quick comparison of the Standard Extra Plus and Maxima benefits and Maxima does give a higher level of cover - do I need it - who knows
Up2u

Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by Up2u »

traveller123 wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:52 pmI have done a quick comparison of the Standard Extra Plus and Maxima benefits and Maxima does give a higher level of cover - do I need it - who knows
Who knows? Only you know. Only you know about your health and family history. The Maxima Plan is 5M vs the Standard Extra 780k. That's $160,000 vs $25,000. Both plans are overpriced for what you get and why many expats are self-insured.
Dodger
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Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by Dodger »

traveller123 wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:52 pm
Dodger wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:14 pm Traveller123: If you don't mind me asking, which policy do you have with Pacific Cross?
Dodger, the plan is described as The Maxima Plan.
Much appreciated.

I also looked at the Maxima Plan which certainly provides much more coverage than the one I selected, but I wanted a lower premium, with outpatient coverage as well to satisfy the hungry hawks at Immigration.

Cheers

Up2u wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 8:44 pm
traveller123 wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:52 pmI have done a quick comparison of the Standard Extra Plus and Maxima benefits and Maxima does give a higher level of cover - do I need it - who knows
Who knows? Only you know. Only you know about your health and family history. The Maxima Plan is 5M vs the Standard Extra 780k. That's $160,000 vs $25,000. Both plans are overpriced for what you get and why many expats are self-insured.
When you compare the various Pacific Cross Plans to those being offered by the competition, they're actually fairly reasonable. The fact that Pacific Cross gives you free choice of hospitals, versus being forced to receive treatment in a State hospital, was a deal breaker as far as I was concerned.

A few (very few) of the State hospitals provide health services that could be relied upon for minor medical needs, but major life-threatening situations are a horse of a different color. It doesn't matter how much coverage you have if the surgeon's using needle nosed pliers and a flashlight with a cracked lens to perform open heart surgery.

I had planned on remaining "self insured", and only picked up a policy to avoid any hassles with immigration up-the-road. The policy I have now meets (exceeds) the immigration mandate, and is only intended as a supplement to my Self-Insurance Plan, not as a replacement.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I don't believe people will ever be forced to use one of these so-called "approved" Thai company's when the dust settles, nor do I think "retirees" have any hoops to jump through just yet. That is just my opinion, and certainly not fact
RichLB
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Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by RichLB »

What am I missing here? If you have an OA visa won't you be required to have health insurance through one of the Thai approved companies to get an extension? I'm pretty sure the current policy is crystal clear on that.
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Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by Undaunted »

RichLB wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 1:12 pm What am I missing here? If you have an OA visa won't you be required to have health insurance through one of the Thai approved companies to get an extension? I'm pretty sure the current policy is crystal clear on that.
Since when has clarity have anything thing to do with the continuance of a thread on this board. :roll:
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
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Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by Dodger »

RichLB wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 1:12 pm What am I missing here? If you have an OA visa won't you be required to have health insurance through one of the Thai approved companies to get an extension? I'm pretty sure the current policy is crystal clear on that.
If this policy appears clear to you, then by all means, react to it as you feel is appropriate. There are some, including myself, who think this policy is as clear as mud, hinges on being illegal, and won't fly.
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Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by Gaybutton »

Dodger wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 3:00 pm There are some, including myself, who think this policy is as clear as mud, hinges on being illegal, and won't fly.
I am hoping enough people will complain about being forced to buy from Thai companies and forced to buy 40,000 baht worth of outpatient coverage if they can prove they have enough money to self-insure outpatient services and will get Thailand to amend this nonsense accordingly, so that it at least makes some sense.

Simply holding just about any credit card provides plenty to pay for nearly any outpatient services in Thailand.

As you say, maybe it "won't fly," but until that actually happens, I don't think it's wise to assume that will be the case. At present, if there are ways around this, I don't know what those might be.

To me, since this whole thing is about people walking out on their hospital bills, it would make far more sense for Thailand to find ways to prevent people from being able to do that rather than imposing absurd restrictions on everybody else trying to live here honestly.
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Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by Undaunted »

Gaybutton wrote: Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:33 am To me, since this whole thing is about people walking out on their hospital bills, it would make far more sense for Thailand to find ways to prevent people from being able to do that rather than imposing absurd restrictions on everybody else trying to live here honestly.
Do you really think it makes a deference what you or any other farang think? In the end the powers that be will do exactly what they choose regardless of what anyone thinks!
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Re: New Health Insurance Requirements Announced O-A

Post by Gaybutton »

Undaunted wrote: Fri Nov 15, 2019 1:41 pm Do you really think it makes a deference what you or any other farang think?
Probably not, but on occasion it has worked before. For example, remember when they wanted people to give them maps to their residence and wanted people to give them copies of their bank cards, complete with the 3 digit security code? Complaints did put a stop to those.

I'm not holding my breath and I'm really not expecting anything, but I'm hoping the complaints will work this time too.

Despite how unfair this is, once again not a word from any of the embassies. Maybe we're all on their list of people not to give a shit about.
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