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So now 800k baht AND insurance?


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I've been reading the threads about the new insurance requirements but no one has mentioned the fact that it now looks like in addition to the 800k baht or 65k baht per month coming in there will now be the added insurance requirement. I vaguely remember that the reason for the monetary requirements was cover the costs of living here including health care. 

 

So, am I reading this wrong or will both now be required?

 

David

 

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13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no requirement for insurance to apply for a extension of stay.

It is only required when applying  for a OA long stay visa at a embassy or official consulate.

Understood. I'll be applying for a new O-A visa in December at the RTE in Washington, D.C. so I will need insurance for that. Hopefully my state insurance will be sufficient for the RTE.

 

David

 

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10 minutes ago, Genericnic said:

Understood. I'll be applying for a new O-A visa in December at the RTE in Washington, D.C. so I will need insurance for that. Hopefully my state insurance will be sufficient for the RTE.

No info on the embassy website yet. You can find info about the insurance here. https://longstay.tgia.org/home/companiesoa

Your insurance must meet these minimum  requirements.

"Health insurance policy must have coverage not less than 400,000 Thai Baht per policy year for Inpatient, and not less than 40,000 Thai Baht per policy year for outpatient."

 

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9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

No info on the embassy website yet. You can find info about the insurance here. https://longstay.tgia.org/home/companiesoa

Your insurance must meet these minimum  requirements.

"Health insurance policy must have coverage not less than 400,000 Thai Baht per policy year for Inpatient, and not less than 40,000 Thai Baht per policy year for outpatient."

 

Other than my deductible ($200/yr) and co-insurance ($3,000/yr), my insurance exceeds any of the policies that TGIA offers since it has no IPD/OPD limits and it doesn't expire. For example, about 3 weeks ago, I had 2 stents done at Bangkok Hospital Chiangmai. Of the $15k plus bill, my insurance covered all but $2,500 of it. The only question is whether the RTE will accept it as sufficient. I'll be dropping them a note later this week seeking some clarification. 

 

David

 

Edited by Genericnic
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5 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

The hospital or clinic always has to contact the insurance provider to verify coverage.

 

http://longstay.tgia.org/document/overseas_insurance_certificate.pdf

Interestingly, I was talking to the international insurance person at Bangkok Hospital Chiangmai at my last visit. When they said they had to get a letter of guarantee from my insurance company before we could set up an appointment, she mentioned that they did that with Thai insurance carriers as well. I suppose it is a bit easier for them to verify coverage with a Thai company rather than one half way around the world, though my carrier has a 24 hour/7 day a week number for providers to verify coverage.

 

David

 

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7 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

Bur even if the Consul accepts my insurance card,  how would an airport IO verify my coverage?

Apparently for the first year immigration will looking at remarks the embassy will put on or near the visa sticker for the first year of the visas validity according to one of the memos attached to the police order.

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19 minutes ago, Genericnic said:

Yes, I saw that. It would be interesting to see who at Blue Cross Blue Shield would be available to sign it. LOL

 

David

They would look at as if it were written in a foreign language the terms are not compatible with persons who get coverage through US companies, governments, or Tricare. Actually I have an Aetna provider maybe they could work with Aetna Thailand to get some kind of authorization. I am on the last year of elite easy access was looking to apply for O-A next year maybe there will be clarification by then.

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1 hour ago, Genericnic said:

Other than my deductible ($200/yr) and co-insurance ($3,000/yr), my insurance exceeds any of the policies that TGIA offers since it has no IPD/OPD limits and it doesn't expire. For example, about 3 weeks ago, I had 2 stents done at Bangkok Hospital Chiangmai. Of the $15k plus bill, my insurance covered all but $2,500 of it. The only question is whether the RTE will accept it as sufficient. I'll be dropping them a note later this week seeking some clarification. 

 

David

 

 

I literally haven't heard one word from any Thai official or document on the issue of health insurance policy deductibles anywhere in this entire debacle.

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Was just looking at the RTE Washington D.C. website and though it was interesting that the page for the O-X (10 year visa) list the requirement of "– Applicant must have a Thai health insurance for the duration of stay, with coverage for outpatient treatment of no less than 40,000 bahts and inpatient treatment of no less than 400,000 bahts." while the page for the O-A visa has no insurance requirement listed. 

 

David

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1 minute ago, Pib said:

Their London embassy already updated their page to show the insurance requirement for an O-A.

I have not found any other embassy website that has updated their requirements other than the embassy in London. But I suspect that is because it is one of the 3 embassies that has adopted the e visa applications.

The MFA and the Consular Affairs websites do not mention it either.

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So folks, I just drafted the following letter to the RTE in Washington. In addition to the question about insurance, I asked a couple of other question which you can ignore if you like. Hopefully I will get some clarification from them in a few days. I will update you if and when I get a response.

 

David

 

Dear Officer:

I am currently living in Thailand and have been here approximately 8.5 years. I originally came on an O-A (retirement) visa and have continued to stay based on extensions of permission to stay. My current permission to stay expires on 25 Dec 2019. Because of an upcoming trip to the US for the holidays, I will not be in Thailand during the time I would normally extend the permission to stay and for that reason I will have to apply for a new O-A visa. In order to do that properly, I must ask your assistance to clarify some questions about the application process this time. 

1. I am in Thailand at the moment. Can I get the required medical certificate from my current personal doctor here in Chiang Mai or do I need to get it filled out by a doctor in the U.S.?

2. SinceI have been living in Thailand for the past 8.5 years, do I need a police clearance from the U.S or from Thailand? I have only visited the U.S. for about 2 months total over the past 8.5 years.

3. It is my understanding that as of 31 October 2019 medical insurance in the amount of at least 40,000 baht for outpatient services and at least 400,000 baht for inpatient services will be required for an O-A (retirement) visa application. My current insurance is provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas as part of my retirement package from the State of Texas. With the exception of small amounts for a deductible and co-insurance, I have unlimited coverage for both inpatient and outpatient care. The coverage has no expiration date. My question is will that insurance coverage be sufficient to meet the requirements and if so, what documentation would I need to submit with the application?

Thank you for your time and assistance.

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24 minutes ago, Pib said:

Their London embassy already updated their page to show the insurance requirement for an O-A.

I'm surprised they don't stipulate the effective date of the new rule, since the insurance is not technically a requirement on any visas issued in the next 2½ weeks. 

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even with health cover and 800k THB that is not enough for any serious medical issue if it involves expensive tech such as scans or drugs such as cancer treatment.  it's not even in the ballpark, at all. in Thailand.

 

services are not expensive, but tech or anything imported is perhaps even more expensive here than at home because we will be helping to subsidize it whereas at home it is just normal treatment.

 

and this will be more and more true going forward because of Thai demographics.

Edited by WeekendRaider
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15 minutes ago, Genericnic said:

I have unlimited coverage for both inpatient and outpatient care.

I think all US insurance has unlimited coverage including Catastrophic insurance after you meet your out of pocket expenses.  It is mandated in ACA. However, in recent years, after Trump admin removed the penalty for buying non-ACA compliant insurance, lots of deceptive insurance are spreading rapidly. I have a Catastrophic insurance with an HSA master card that currently has close ot 500K BHT, accumulated over 10 -years. My out  of pocket expense is 7600 USD which I can easily pay using my HSA master card. I paid 70K BHT in 2017 in Bangkok hospital and 3K Euro in 2016 in Amsterdam. 

Edited by onera1961
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2 minutes ago, WeekendRaider said:

even with health cover and 800k THB that is not enough for any serious medical issue if it involves expensive tech such as scans or drugs such as cancer treatment.  

True. With the relatively low requirements that they have, it would not cover anything truly serious. I just had 2 cardiac stents - which is considered routine rather than serious these days -  done last month and the gross about was around 665,000 baht. Luckily, my insurance covered all but about 80,000 baht of it. Nothing better than good insurance. ????

 

David

 

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5 minutes ago, Genericnic said:

True. With the relatively low requirements that they have, it would not cover anything truly serious. I just had 2 cardiac stents - which is considered routine rather than serious these days -  done last month and the gross about was around 665,000 baht. Luckily, my insurance covered all but about 80,000 baht of it. Nothing better than good insurance. ????

ACA complaint bronze insurance will mostly have 100K out of pocket expenses before unlimited amount kicks in.

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20 hours ago, hyku1147 said:

Yesterday, I asked a well established visa agent. He said that there is no impending requirement for health insurance when renewing an extension based on retirement.

Yes, but even in this thread some people can't separate a visa and an extension of stay in their minds and get their knickers in a knot if anyone points out that there is a difference . . . in this case there's a difference in the requirements for the two.

 

So the O/P refers to "the fact" that you'll need 800k or 65k per month as well as insurance, conflating the requirements.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Suradit69
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20 hours ago, Kelsall said:

I'd be quite surprised if any US insurance company would be willing to sign that certificate. 

 

I hope the OP proves me wrong.

hahahaha... when originally getting O-A visa in ussa a couple yrs ago I took the seemingly simple medical letter (printed off thai consulate website) to a number of clinics. It asked a) leprosy? b) elephantiasis? c) syphilus? d) TB?

 

Figured this would be simple and easy, like who has elephantiasis or leprosy in the states this century??? the clinics looked at the letter like I just flew in from Mars and wanted them to guarantee their life savings and first born with a signature that I was OK. 5 clinics in all, "oh no, we can't sign that! we don't have a test for leprosy..." Finally got a dr that I got it done with.

 

Good luck with getting two sigs from corporate directors from your medical mafia company...

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