TigerandDog

Have to correct you slightly on that. The Pacific Cross Platinum Plans for this insurance are brand NEW. They have only came into existence about 2-3 weeks ago.

that only encourages them to issue even more tickets for made up offences.

There already is, but it's NEVER been enforced. 5 or 6 years ago there was a law passed stating that ALL tourist MUST have travel insurance to enter the Kingdom and that this would be checked on arrival. If travel insurance could not be proved, then there were supposed to be 2 options available: 1. Buy travel insurance at the entry point or 2. If you did not want to buy the travel insurance at the entry point then entry would be denied. This so called mandatory requirement has NEVER been enforced.

Never have been able to understand the Thai logic as to why farangs on marriage visas/extensions need 50% less money than a single person. They have a wife to support, quite possibly kids too. Doesn't make sense to me, but that's Thai logic isn't it, it's completely non-sensical.

The one thing everybody seems to have overlooked in this post is the fact that 6 Thai Health Insurance companies have been approved to sell this insurance. The questions that haven't been asked and should be are these: 1. If this health insurance is for new Non O-A visa applications only, why have these 6 companies been given approval to sell health insurance to over 50's long stay foreigners? If it is for new visa applications only, then it must be done in the home country. No need for Thai companies to sell the insurance. 2. Has the news release used incorrect terminology when referring to visa renewals? I believe, and so do the approved 6 insurance companies, that the use of the terminology "visa renewal" actually means "extension of stay". I am also reliably informed by 1 of the 6 companies that as a group they are saying to the relevant govt dept that outpatients does not need to be included in the mandatory minimums, and are hoping to have that removed from the requirements. But either way, since this is to come into effect on 1 July 2019, we'll soon see posts in here if extensions of stay are rejected because of no health insurance.

Have just finished a conversation with PC and they advise that this only applies to NEW Non O-A visa applications. In their opinion it does not apply to extensions of stay.

Just to ad further confusion to this entire topic, there are only 6 health Insurance Companies, at present, that are authorized to provide this compulsory insurance for the over 50's. They can be found on the link in the previous topic yesterday. At this point Immigration will not accept any other health insurance issued in Thailand.

Your comment about PC only covering to age 64 is completely wrong. PC accept new clients up to age 75. New clients 65 and over must have a full medical examination before being accepted. Once accepted PC will renew your plan until the day you die, even if you live to 110 or older. They have even come out with a new series of Platinum Plans for the over 50's, based on the new requirements. The same conditions with regards to age still apply.

hate to say I told you so, but here it is exactly as I wrote in my post which was closed once this breaking news was posted.

partly true, but definitely WRONG with regards to exchange rate from the RBA. Centrelink (Human Services) use Citibank as their official departmental bank, and despite the web site saying they use RBA exchange rates, they use Citibank exchange rates, and Citibank skim big time on the rates for their own profit. I've had lengthy emails and telephone conversations with Human Services over the exchange rate issue, and it wasn't until I provided them with a spreadsheet showing how much I was receiving, and compared the Aged Pension payment using both the RBA exchange rate & the rate I was actually being paid at, that someone actually got off their backside and investigated. That was when the information about using the Citibank exchange rate came to the surface. They did promise to remove the reference to the RBA exchange rate from their web site, but that obviously hasn't happened.

"If this is correct, I wonder if immigration have thought this out, especially for those retirees over the age of 70?" Fortunately with Pacific Cross they do not have this discriminatory age restriction. They will take on new customers up to age 75. If 65 or older a full medical is required beforehand, and the cover offered is based on the results of that medical. Once covered they will continue to insure you as per their documentation up to age 99, but should you live longer they will continue to insure you. If you have read the link in it's entirety you will notice that premiums are not increased annually as we age, but broken down into age brackets. The premiums on their existing plans have not been increased for several years. There was talk that they were to be increased early this year, but to date they remain as is. Also if you compare their premiums to other health insurance companies, they are more affordable than the rest, they do their own underwriting which is a huge plus as far as health insurance goes and you don't have to pay and then make a claim ( you can if you choose to do things that way ) you just present your Pacific Cross card to the hospital and they bill Pacific Cross direct. TBH I will be registering for the Standard Plus Plan which offers exactly the same as the Platinum 1, except for 2 items, and the annual premium is less expensive. Also with the Standard Plus, if you exclude Outpatient care, there is a 20% discount on the premium, and then there are No Claim bonuses when claims are not lodged. Even before all the rumours started I've been looking into affordable health insurance here for the best part of 4 years, and without a doubt this is the best health insurance company I've come across. I'm just waiting on answers to a couple of questions from Pacific Cross before I sign up, whether Immigration require it or not.

According to my contact at pacific Cross and another farang's contact at Pacific Cross, that's exactly what it's intended for, extensions of stay.

There have been plenty of rumours going around about the possibility of it becoming a requirement to also have health insurance to obtain extensions of stay. It would seem that this may be occurring sooner rather than later as Pacific Cross have recently published their Health Insurance Plans for Long Stay farangs. See the link to their policy herewith ( https://www.pacificcrosshealth.com/en/health-insurance/longstay-visa/ ). If this is becoming a reality, then it's only a matter of time until the other Thai based health insurance companies follow suit, and once they all fall into line Immigration will implement this requirement. However, with regards to the plans shown in the link, Platinum 1 is a virtual replica, except for a couple of minor items, of their current Standard Plus Plan. Problem is Platinum 1 is more expensive than Standard Plus. So for those farangs who currently don't have health insurance, it might be time to start shopping around and be prepared for when it eventually transfers from rumour to reality.