Expats overwhelmingly support mandatory health insurance of over 50s: Poll

[brewsterbudgen]

Silly poll that bears no relation to the announcement. Only people applying for OA visas (in their home country) are affected and compulsory insurance is already required for OX visas.  Nothing else has changed, and certainly not an insurance requirement for all "over 50s".

[rumak]

1 hour ago, Percy P said:

Hospitals require your passport for I'D and registration .Should you skip without paying your Passport No is passed on to immigration and then you are comprehended should you try to skip the Country

could you explain ?  I am not sure that I apprehend your post

[DrTuner]

Let me guess: those that don't need insurance are clever enough not to let facebook track them either. Useless poll.

[gbswales]

5 hours ago, ryane66 said:

I guess in your estimation l am an old greezer. I am 71. Slim and fit. Regular health checkups define me as excellent. I bike 30km EVERY day.

I outworked the younger Thai workers building my home. I really don't think l am close to having a foot in the grave. Pretty sure l could keep up to you.

I think the OP meant that insurance companies treat us over 70's as having one foot in the grave.  I am 73 and had hoped to spend a year or two in Thailand before I hit 80 - however with two long term medical conditions (Diabetes and Haemophillia) plus having had a triple by pass three years ago I am not rating my chances of getting insurance despite being in reasonably good health at the moment.   If I required medical intervention for anything, other than a major accident, I would immediately fly back to the UK.

 

I would prefer a system that allowed me to deposit a significant sum of cash in a (safe) account which could be returned to me once they have verified I have not left unpaid bills behind me or from which my burial costs could be taken should I die whilst there (I have never seen the sense of flying anyone's dead carcass to their home country!)

[sungod]

Ah, another topic where posters say they will be an exodus of expats leaving Thailand, yet everyone stays and moans on the forum about how terrible it is here.

[Shiver]

Remember that time Government asked the opinion of foreigners?

Me neither.

[beau thai]

Inept, amateur survey. Great exercise by this forum in how to alienate their clients

[DrTuner]

5 minutes ago, sungod said:

Ah, another topic where posters say they will be an exodus of expats leaving Thailand, yet everyone stays and moans on the forum about how terrible it is here.

It takes time to up the sticks and go. Looks like six months is just about the minimum.

[wayned]

40 minutes ago, Snowyrivers said:

Impossible to buy health insurance for over 70’s! Maybe if you pay 100,000 plus baht!

 

will need to clean up Insurance first!

the link posted in the original article is longstay.tgia.org.  There are several companies listed and you can buy insurance over 70 but it's expensive.  The cheapest is the Thai company on the upper right, the most expensive is Aetna.  I am 74 and the cheap one is 81,000 baht/year for the basic 40000/40000coverage, Aetna is 137,000/year.

 

Looks like a set-up to me as the day that it's announced Thai insurance companies already have web pages set up to address "long stay insur4ance".

[sungod]

2 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

It takes time to up the sticks and go. Looks like six months is just about the minimum.

Have you started packing at least?

[Letseng]

47 minutes ago, malt25 said:

Is insurance mandatory in Malaysia, Cambodia or Vietnam ? NO!

Just read up on  MM2H rules for the Malaysia longstay visa.

You need insurance. Plus many confusing requirements and a fixed deposit.

No requirements for Cambodia or Vietnam. But you don't want their healthcare either. You end up in Bkk anyway.

[carbon007]

Important for retirement vis holders: Read this:

 

[steve73]

20 minutes ago, beau thai said:

Inept, amateur survey. Great exercise by this forum in how to alienate their clients

Yes... but it gets the clicks and that's all this forum (or its new masters) really care about..

[Thomas33399]

6 hours ago, peter14 said:

NO ,   800 k and health insurance to cover  400   k THB....    cost of living in Thailand required huge amount.  It's about time to move elsewhere...  Thailand overrated..

You are becoming more and more correct. Thailand does not really have that much to offer and it is being made increasingly difficult to live here. But then again, if you like smog, heat, appallingly dangerous roads, poor quality food where almost every dish relies on chillies and other smelly products to make it palatable, food full of carcinogens, noise, mostly parochial people who will never accept you, investing in property you will never be able to own or sell and will most likely see you lose your investment, an extremely poor business environment where  most businesses go broke and it is very difficult (or expensive) to control or work in your own business, very expensive second hand cars, a limited range of motorbikes, being unable to import motorbikes or cars, employers who willingly lie to you, low medical standards in most places, girls who think nothing of, and are practised in, the art of ripping you off, very unattractive scenery compared to most other countries, very limited availability of food  ...... I could keep going. 
I have spent many years here but it really does start to beg the question of why people remain.

[gunderhill]

1000000+ expats in Thailand not counting Burma Laos Cambodia etc so 3000 say yes , how about the other 997000? and how about asking tricky questions like getting them on the Thai healthcare system, or the unnecessary OPD B.S?

[Zack61]

I feel like I’ve had words put into my mouth. What a load of bull sh*t. 

[bluesofa]

3 minutes ago, Thomas33399 said:

You are becoming more and more correct. Thailand does not really have that much to offer and it is being made increasingly difficult to live here. But then again, if you like smog, heat, appallingly dangerous roads, poor quality food where almost every dish relies on chillies and other smelly products to make it palatable, food full of carcinogens, noise, mostly parochial people who will never accept you, investing in property you will never be able to own or sell and will most likely see you lose your investment, an extremely poor business environment where  most businesses go broke and it is very difficult (or expensive) to control or work in your own business, very expensive second hand cars, a limited range of motorbikes, being unable to import motorbikes or cars, employers who willingly lie to you, low medical standards in most places, girls who think nothing of, and are practised in, the art of ripping you off, very unattractive scenery compared to most other countries, very limited availability of food  ...... I could keep going. 
I have spent many years here but it really does start to beg the question of why people remain.

Hmm, I'm surprised you're still alive. Reminds me of someone I knew who was diagnosed as a suicide risk.

[The Theory]

6 hours ago, newatthis said:

And I wonder if it will be interpreted that way by the IO's

Well 

at least moving to another province would be easier than moving to another country. 

Hopefully we won’t have to. 

[Denim]

Just now, The Theory said:

Well 

at least moving to another province would be easier than moving to another country. 

Hopefully we won’t have to. 

 

I'm thinking of telling the wife that the proposed changes mean I will have to spend 6 months of the year in Angeles City. Not my fault tee rak.

[maddox41]

I'm 50  and been in Thailand 10 yrs I always use travel insurance. 

As for health insurance plans your looking between 45 000 to 75 000 b for a good one  that covers up to 2 million b but most  will not l cover existing  medical conditions. Expat health insurance here in Thailand d is a rip off as it's has a ceiling limit. Not unlimited so as a farang you walk into a hospital and pay top  dollar  compared to a thai patient 2 million b doesn't last long. 

But I think anyone living in Thailand without insurance is insane as not if but when something will happen and most time it's not your fault. And no coverage it's pang mak if you go to private. 

 

[zydeco]

1 hour ago, StevieAus said:

On the occasions I have visited both private and public hospitals in Thailand I have never been asked to surrender my passport I have been treated and asked to pay at the end.

I've never known anyone who didn't need to produce a passport--even for a doctor's appointment. I know that is my case. This country is passport crazy. You cannot even mail a letter without a passport. Tops and Lotus and Foodland won't give you a customer discount card/app without a passport. There is simply no way for you to escape from paying what you owe in Thailand. They'll track you down through your passport, your TM 30 now, or your fingerprints when you got a SIM card for your phone.

[Chongalulu]

6 hours ago, ryane66 said:

I guess in your estimation l am an old greezer. I am 71. Slim and fit. Regular health checkups define me as excellent. I bike 30km EVERY day.

I outworked the younger Thai workers building my home. I really don't think l am close to having a foot in the grave. Pretty sure l could keep up to you.

But I bet you still need the little blue pills for your "recreation "? ???? 

On a more serious note,as an exercising,non smoking or drinking 67 year old myself who can free dive to 12 metres the insurance companies will not be interested in any of that .,.just your date of birth.

[ThaiFelix]

This does all sound a bit dodgey.  Why was this poll taken on Facebook instead of here where I believe most members read.  I have followed this story quite closely on here and got the definite conclusion, without actually counting, that members were overwhelmingly commenting against it??  Plus I have never used the TV facebook page.

 

But I also noticed that a health insurance company  advertises on here daily?

[KhunFred]

There are a lot of deeply stupid expats in Thailand and their approval of "forced insurance" proves it. Cambodia should send flowers to Thai Immigration. Cambo welcomes retirees with a normal retiree income, ditto for Vietnam. These governments aren't stupid. They KNOW a cash cow when they see one.

[ThaiFelix]

40 minutes ago, steve73 said:

Yes... but it gets the clicks and that's all this forum (or its new masters) really care about..

I personally think this is the worst thing this forum could do.  If someone in govt here could read English (lol) such a flawed survey result could prompt the govt to force it on all long term visa/extension of stay types thinking we all want it.

[Captain 776]

If you read it, it doesn’t apply if you are already staying here on Non I’m O, so that’s ok.

I don’t support low life getting treated and running out on the bill

[RichardA17]

8 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

I don't. I like to have choices on life, and would never sign up for an 40k outpatient insurance. Ridiculous.

Although the 40K outpatient is next to nothing in the overall amount of coverage, that actually makes the cost of the insurance premium higher. Frequently used, small money charges have a big impact on insurance premiums because of the administrative costs involved. I have a major medical insurance policy in Thailand because all I need is coverage in the event of a catastrophic medical condition. I pay out of pocket for the doctor visits and outpatient services. Adding in outpatient coverage and doctor visits to my policy would have more than doubled the premium that was already high simply because of my age.
 

The other problem with this requirement is that many insurance companies cut-off insurance coverage at somewhere between 65 and 80 years old. Many won't even write coverage if the person is older than 60, with the rest cutting off new policies at either 65, 70, or a very few that will write new coverage up to age 75. So with the insurance requirement, does that mean if we haven't died by the time we reach the insurance cut-off age, we then have to leave Thailand?

If the government plans to implement this requirement, then they need to also implement a requirement for the insurance companies that in order to do business in Thailand, the companies must insure foreigners at any age and must have premiums controlled so that they are not price gouging on premiums. Premium price gouging seems to be something that some of the foreign health insurance companies that have started to enter the Thai market are experts at doing in their home countries. Particularly publicly listed, USA based insurance companies.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

2 hours ago, Percy P said:

Hospitals require your passport for I'D and registration .Should you skip without paying your Passport No is passed on to immigration and then you are comprehended should you try to skip the Country

How do they comprehend you if you can't speak Thai?

[zydeco]

7 minutes ago, RichardA17 said:

Although the 40K outpatient is next to nothing in the overall amount of coverage, that actually makes the cost of the insurance premium higher. Frequently used, small money charges have a big impact on insurance premiums because of the administrative costs involved. I have a major medical insurance policy in Thailand because all I need is coverage in the event of a catastrophic medical condition. I pay out of pocket for the doctor visits and outpatient services. Adding in outpatient coverage and doctor visits to my policy would have more than doubled the premium that was already high simply because of my age.
 

The other problem with this requirement is that many insurance companies cut-off insurance coverage at somewhere between 65 and 80 years old. Many won't even write coverage if the person is older than 60, with the rest cutting off new policies at either 65, 70, or a very few that will write new coverage up to age 75. So with the insurance requirement, does that mean if we haven't died by the time we reach the insurance cut-off age, we then have to leave Thailand?

If the government plans to implement this requirement, then they need to also implement a requirement for the insurance companies that in order to do business in Thailand, the companies must insure foreigners at any age and must have premiums controlled so that they are not price gouging on premiums. Premium price gouging seems to be something that some of the foreign health insurance companies that have started to enter the Thai market are experts at doing in their home countries. Particularly publicly listed, USA based insurance companies.

You are right, of course. But the government doesn't care. It doesn't matter how logical, fair, or efficient alternatives might be. This is all about getting money out of Westerners. I wonder if any of those Chinese administrators and workers in that Chinese-only city they are building will be required to have the same amount of insurance coverage.

[Thaimarkz]

4 hours ago, Thaimarkz said:

An insurance for inpatients is more than necessary and overdue, but an insurance for outpatient treatment is ridiculous. My eye OP did cost 65,000 Baht, was done within 30 minutes as an outpatient. Such an amount should be affordable out of pocket. This applies to expats because expats are asked to show a pretty high monthly pension or a fixed amount of Bt 800.000 and never less then Bt 400,000 proven by a local bank. Therefore an insurance for oupatient expats does not make any sense at all!
Tourists, who unfortunately are often involved in traffic or diving accidents, should have a mandatory travel insurance, which covers everything from inpatients to outpatient costs. These are mainly the people who are in debt to the hospitals. So again. insurance for inpatients is a must, an insurance for outpatients (expats) exept tourists is ridiculous. The days of expats without enough money should be over anyway.

Anyway...., as an addendum to my comments above, I have to say that I am covered by my foreign insurance up to a USD 500'000 as a stationary. The annual fee is very favorable and I have a deductible of usd 2000, which is not much when it comes down to an operation with more than 3 days in the hospital. Hip OP (600'000 Baht) in the private hospital was paid by my insurance without any problems. BUT this insurance does not work with many local hospitals here because it is obvious that these hospitals rip off the patients. And I am not talking about some private hospitals. Now if a clever official comes up with the idea that you must have an insurance, which is valid for any hospital, and this idea will get approved, then good night and Thailand can kiss good bye the expats, who bring some good money in the country. I agree that an insurance for an inpatient is necessary, but a patient must have the freedom to choose his hospital and also the insurance company. For my part, I would never go to a public hospital, not even in Europe, where I come from. So we will see how far they will go....