Mandatory health insurance

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Jogger

Re: Mandatory health insurance

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fountainhall

Re: Mandatory health insurance

Post by fountainhall »

Gaybutton wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 1:13 pmI haven't checked with other Thai insurance companies, but how many people retire under age 60? And if eligibility for it stops at age 60 with all the Thai insurance companies, great!
Pacific Cross used to accept new policies for those 65 or under. I know of one person who was offered a policy at 67 but he had to undergo a stringent medical check up first and then it was a co-insurance policy. The usual pre-exisiting conditions applied. Better than nothing, he reckoned.
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Gaybutton
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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Jogger wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 1:57 pm Here is the Thai Visa forum link:

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/110033 ... ce-and-cw/
Thank you, but I see nothing posted that verifies that this new policy would apply only to those applying via the Thai embassy in their home countries. All I see is people posting what they believe, but nothing official.

We're just going to have to wait and see how this one plays out.
Jogger

Re: Mandatory health insurance

Post by Jogger »

Good point GB...I am guessing that as the announcement refers to OA visa's and most of us have O visa 's (retirement rather than long stay) that is why it is being opined the new rule refers only to overseas applicants.
See:

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4 ... Stay).html


Anyway...enough. As you say...we need to wait and see.
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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Jogger wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 6:15 pm Anyway...enough. As you say...we need to wait and see.
As usual, we really don't know just what is going on. I can't imagine that Thailand would impose such a requirement without providing a means of obtaining the required insurance. In other words, requiring Thai insurance companies to provide those living in Thailand under the retirement visa coverage no matter what our age happens to be.

However, it doesn't matter what I can or cannot imagine. You never know what Thailand will do or what they will require of us. That is precisely why I opted to renew my retirement visa using the 800,000 baht method even though I can easily prove the 65,000 baht per month. We have no idea whether what is acceptable this year will continue to be acceptable next year.

As I said, when I renewed my visa, or extended it if you prefer, last Friday, May 10, there was no mention of insurance at all. So, unless I just happened to renew my visa on the very last day when medical insurance was still not required, then I have no idea what is going on - and having no definitive idea about what is going on, or what is actually required of us, seems to be par for the course these days . . .
windwalker

Re: Mandatory health insurance

Post by windwalker »

fountainhall wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 10:25 am Although this is not yet policy, if I were younger and beginning to consider where to retire, Thailand would no longer be on my list.
I read that medical bills are being incurred but not being paid whether this is fact or fiction I don't really know. I do read of many younger people visiting Thailand, without proper insurance, and ending up in the hospitals and then have to rely on others to pay their bills.

But I don't know of any older farang that are in that category. The older expats seem to have insurance or have assets (self insurance) to cover their medical expenses. And, if not, then they just die. :(

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Gaybutton
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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windwalker wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 8:06 pm The older expats seem to have insurance or have assets (self insurance) to cover their medical expenses. And, if not, then they just die.
It does happen, though. Not to speak ill of the dead, but remember Monty? He was a perfect example. As far as I know his medical bills never were paid. Whether that happens often or not - I have no idea, but my guess is it has happened often enough for Thailand to take notice.


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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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Gaybutton wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 9:43 pmAs far as I know his medical bills never were paid. Whether that happens often or not - I have no idea, but my guess is it has happened often enough for Thailand to take notice.
I agree with your take on this.

When I went in for leg surgery at Queen Sirikit Hospital last year (the same hospital Monty used) I got in a fairly lengthy conversation with a very friendly girl in the finance department. I had to pay the estimated charges in full/in advance. The girl spoke fluent English and told me that she was sorry that they had to request full payment from me as this was never the case until up to a few years ago. She went on to explain that this was now being done due to the fact that some farang patients were not paying their bills. She also categorized this as being a fairly frequent event which apparently forced the hospital to take a hefty loss. This girl had day-to-day exposure to the hospital finances and had worked in a supervisory capacity so I accepted her explanation with confidence.

After spending 2 months 24/7 (2012) at my now deceased boyfriend's bedside in the Banglamung State Hospital I met several farang patients who only chose this hospital due to their lack of finances. If anyone's ever seen the inside of either the Banglamung or Chonburi State Hospitals you'd know what I mean. Frankly, if you did have two nickels to rub together you would never darken their doorway with your shadow.

There's a small percentage of farang hobos who somehow make their way to Thailand who don't have two nickels to rub together when they get here. Hobos like this used to travel all across America on trains for free and now they've found a way to hitchhike across the ocean. That's really an amazing feat worth some merit all its own - but unfortunately that's where the problem come in.
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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Important news for expats in Thailand

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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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If we really do have to start proving we have medical insurance that meets Thailand's requirements, but for whatever reason can't get it, the only thing I can think of to do is open a new Thai bank account, put 440,000 baht in it to meet Thailand's requirements, leave it there untouched, and use that to say you're self-insured.

Maybe that would work or maybe it wouldn't, but at the moment we are not even sure, despite the video Undaunted posted, whether this requirement will actually apply to those of us already living in Thailand under the retirement visa. I'm seeing a lot of controversy about that, posted by people just as qualified to know what they're talking about as is the guy in the video. Just because he posted a video on YouTube, that doesn't necessarily make him correct.

Great! There is still plenty of confusion about the financial requirements to get the retirement visa. Now we suddenly have this to add to the confusion.

I guess we'll start finding out soon enough when people go to immigration to renew their retirement visa. Once again, if it helps anything I was not asked anything about health insurance. Nothing about it was mentioned at all.

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