Health insurance now mandatory for long-stay foreigners

[PJG]

Some of the policies I have seen that only cover the basic 400000/40000 can only be used in Hua Hin at the Govt. Hospital or San Paulo. To use others such as Bangkok Hosp. you need a higher level of cover.

I have been to HH Hospital on a number of occasions, never been asked if have insurance, just presented with a bill at the end.

[Hahuahin]

OK guys, please don't take this as gospel, but here is the cost chart for what I'm being offered. I am 63 years old. I accept there will be some exclusions (not known yet), but for those I'll be no better off than I was before the scheme, but I will be legal.

I can't emphasise enough, this is my offer, and we all have different circumstances. Either contact the companies on the TGIA link, or contact a broker.

Insurance.png

Are you saying that the chart is based only for your situation or is it picked from a Insurance company and which one?

Thank you
hahuahin

[Big Boy]

Pacific Cross

[T.O.M.]

Some of the policies I have seen that only cover the basic 400000/40000 can only be used in Hua Hin at the Govt. Hospital or San Paulo. To use others such as Bangkok Hosp. you need a higher level of cover.

I have been to HH Hospital on a number of occasions, never been asked if have insurance, just presented with a bill at the end.

The whole idea behind the present "mandatory insurance" suggestion is to protect government hospitals (on small budgets) from losses created by unpaid bills.
If you want to use the more expensive private hospitals, of course you will need an insurance with better coverage.

Someone has to pay the profit to the share holders.....Last year Dusit Medical Group (Bangkok Hospital) made a profit of 6.6 billion baht....

[T.O.M.]

Pacific Cross

If I go to the list of recommended insurance providers for "long-stay" health insurance and go to Pacific Cross..I come up with a list, that looks very different from the one posted earlier by you.....Way more expensive.
https://www.pacificcrosshealth.com/wp-c ... inum-1.pdf

???

[HHTel]

The whole idea behind the present "mandatory insurance" suggestion is to protect government hospitals (on small budgets) from losses created by unpaid bills.

But unless the hospitals have an agreement with the insurance companies, then nothing changes. If you are presented with a bill because the hospital can't bill the insurance company, then it remains as an unpaid bill.

Not been thought through which is quite normal in a lot of the 'knee jerk' reactions the authorities come up with.

[Hahuahin]

Pacific Cross

Thank you

[Big Boy]

Pacific Cross

If I go to the list of recommended insurance providers for "long-stay" health insurance and go to Pacific Cross..I come up with a list, that looks very different from the one posted earlier by you.....Way more expensive.
https://www.pacificcrosshealth.com/wp-c ... inum-1.pdf

???

I believe, but you need to check yourself, that AA Insurance have a group scheme, which means they will be 20% cheaper than going direct to the insurance company.

[pitsch]

There are a lot of limitations, e.g. a room 3000 Baht/day. In Bangkok Hospital the cheapest room is 7100 Baht/day.

[nil]

Pacific Cross

If I go to the list of recommended insurance providers for "long-stay" health insurance and go to Pacific Cross..I come up with a list, that looks very different from the one posted earlier by you.....Way more expensive.
https://www.pacificcrosshealth.com/wp-c ... inum-1.pdf

???

Those policy’s are special ones that the insurance company’s created when the 0-X visa was brought in. You had to buy Thai insurance when you apply for the visa in your home country.

[PJG]

Have just been reading the original article in Nationmultimedia and found the correct statistics for bad debts/visitors

2018
Number of foreign visitors: 38 million
Number of medical visits by them: 3.42 million
Number of non-immigrant (O-A) visa holders: 80,950
Number of unpaid medical bills: 680,000
Outstanding debt: Bt305 million

The outstanding debt is made up of OA visa holders and foreign visitors. As there are only 80,950 OA visa holders it follows that most of the unpaid bills are by foreign visitors(tourists) (maybe as much as 600,000 of the unpaid bills). It would seem to me that the powers that be are aiming their arrows at the wrong target.

It also seems to me extraordinary that 20% of medical visits result in an unpaid bill. Perhaps they should look at their operating policies rather than bringing in new regulations which will obviously be ineffective.

[HHTel]

Well done. Obviously passed your maths exams in the west. Now you have to learn Thai maths to understand Thai logic

[Big Boy]

We have to remember, we are dealing with a military government. I dealt with military all my working life. Their philosophy is to be remembered for their actions. The action doesn't have to be right, but they have to be remembered.

[oakdale160]

I do not remember seeing them for years but there used to be machines in airports where you could buy insurance against dieing on the flight. Perhaps this is a business opportunity machines at Swampy where you could buy H.I.

[T.O.M.]

To end all the scaremongering from insurance agents and others.....
Directly from the horse's mouth....... (Admin if you are not happy with the source....just delete)

[Mod Edit] - You know the link used is not permitted here. We have extracted the relevant section, and it is available below.
Credit to Surf FM, to who we are grateful for helping clear this matter up.