Uninsured foreigners burdening Thai public hospitals

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thaiworthy

Re: Uninsured foreigners burdening Thai public hospitals

Post by thaiworthy »

It's not only uninsured farang. Even if you secure insurance through a travel policy or a local Thai health plan (BUPA, Pacific Cross, Cigna, etc.) you will be excluded from coverage for pre-existing conditions. There are many responsible farang, through no fault of their own are left to risk because of these circumstances.
Jun

Re: Uninsured foreigners burdening Thai public hospitals

Post by Jun »

Insurers have other get outs as well.

From my own unintended sampling, the majority of budget insurance policies sold on line in the UK include medical care exclusions such as:
(i) No cover for riding on a motorcycle driven by anyone without a British motorcycle license. e.g. Motorcycle taxi.
(ii) Injuries resulting following alcohol consumption.

However, overall I'm sure the Thai economy benefits heavily from tourist visitors & pensioners.
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Bob
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Re: Uninsured foreigners burdening Thai public hospitals

Post by Bob »

Jun wrote:....However, overall I'm sure the Thai economy benefits heavily from tourist visitors & pensioners.
This topic - the Thai government or hospitals complaining about foreigners who don't pay for their medical expenses - comes up every two or three years. The last time the newspaper articles asserted that non-payments by foreigners cost the Thai hospitals something like 400 million baht annually (or a total of about $11,500,000.00 per year). And the proposal then was to charge each foreigner who entered the country 500 baht - a sum (presuming you believe that 30 million foreigners enter the country each year) which would generate 15 billion baht (hmmm...just a wee bit more than the loss claimed....).

I would believe that the Thai hospitals alone make well more than a 400 million baht profit from treating foreigners so, in my eyes, the end result is that there is no loss to the system at all. Thai hospitals are having a rough go of it currently because of the 30-baht health scheme (because the Thai government won't adequately fund the hospitals and also because the 30-baht payment amount should have been increased or indexed to inflation years ago) but I don't see that as the fault of foreigners. These articles are, to me, just a case of myopic nationalism and journalism.
Jun

Re: Uninsured foreigners burdening Thai public hospitals

Post by Jun »

Bob wrote:
Jun wrote:....However, overall I'm sure the Thai economy benefits heavily from tourist visitors & pensioners.
This topic - the Thai government or hospitals complaining about foreigners who don't pay for their medical expenses - comes up every two or three years. The last time the newspaper articles asserted that non-payments by foreigners cost the Thai hospitals something like 400 million baht annually
Right, so it costs them about 15 baht per tourist.

I suppose price gouging has been accepted in other areas (e.g. ATM fees), so people can make money out of hiking fees. For a while.
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Re: Uninsured foreigners burdening Thai public hospitals

Post by christianpfc »

Jun wrote:...include medical care exclusions...
I had to read that twice to see what's included and what's excluded.

One would assume hospitals check if Farang has an insurance or can pay himself before performing anything that goes over basic life saving procedures.

However I once saw a payment reminder (that was about a year after the hospital treatment) of a Farang acquaintance who didn't pay for his treatment.
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