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With no travel insurance, Canadian family struggles to bring injured father home from Thailand


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Sad to say, it´s just another bloke that missed the importance of insurance. Hope he recovers, though.

But to believe that total strangers will continue to help people that refuse to do what they can to protect themself, will very quickly come to an end and just be a fling of the past.

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5 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Sad news, hope he recovers, but I cannot understand people that skimp out on health insurance and or travel insurance. From my calculations, it costs between 2-3 beers a day for someone that age, and yes I understand some can't get it because of their age and pre-existing conditions, but @ 66, come on, at least self insure, and at that age, if you haven't got money, you should stay in your home country as opposed to being a burden to others, harsh words, yes, but Thailand owes us nothing and we shouldn't be a burden on Thailand. No doubt I will cop some slack here for my open opinion, but it is what it is, the truth, he is now a financial burden to his family on both sides of the fence.

 

I would hate for something to happen to me which would make me a financial burden on my family, either side of the fence, so I take out medical insurance and travel insurance when I travel, sure it costs, but the burden is on me.

 

Believe it or not, uninsured foreign visitors are hospitalized even in the United States. No one can be denied ER and intensive care. Once the patient is discharged or transported home, the hospitals and doctors can bill him/her all they want but there's little chance they'll get paid.

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5 hours ago, friendphil said:

I BELIEVE that you're way off on the 2-3 beers per day cost of insurance.  And at that age, when I lived in Thailand, it simply was not available, at least through Thai providers, and the farang provider options that were available were simply out of reach of most farangs living in Thailand. 

You dont buy travel insurance in Thailand of your visiting Thailand

 

You buy it in your home country before leaving

 

I am in my 60's & pay 230-260 USD for 2-3 months depending on exact amount of days

That gives me 3-4 million baht coverage after a $500 deductible

 

Again we are not talking about full year coverage but travel insurance like this man should have bought for his trip

 

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4 hours ago, legend49 said:

Peoples choice on what they do re insurance. Then again insurance companies always look at ways not to pay. So its all about luck. I hope their luck gets better.

 

absolutely, we are adults and are responsible for the decisions we make; you are either a risk avoider and take out insurance or you're a risk taker and dont. if you choose the latter option common sense suggests you should at least have access to financial resource should the worst happen. if you dont why take the risk?!

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3 minutes ago, Dustdevil said:

Believe it or not, uninsured foreign visitors are hospitalized even in the United States. No one can be denied ER and intensive care. Once the patient is discharged or transported home, the hospitals and doctors can bill him/her all they want but there's little chance they'll get paid.

Hence the reason they will keep you here until you pay, this is Thailand of course, and the way I see it, they are right to hold the patient until someone pays, e.g. you can't expect to walk into a department store, take what you like and walk out, or a car dealership, jump into a new car, give your details and tell them the money is on the way as you attempt to drive off with the new car.

 

Wont be long before all expats will be required to have health insurance, the ones that will cop it hard are the ones that are over the age that insurers will insure and if they don't have enough funds to self insure, e.g. say 2,000,000 baht in the bank they will have to find a new homeland, compliments of the expats that failed to pay their hospital bills.

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I think these stories are all about the money and nothing with the content. We live in a world where some people have things and others do not. Many people just don't have the money, never did and never will. Others have always had it due to wealth, good pay or specific jobs like military which take national funds and dumps medical care on its former members. I noticed an early post where someone said if you can't pay don't be a burden on Thailand. I wonder how many Thais are sucking benefits in western nations? How many Thais overstay and take advantage of all they can? Who's paying for those bodies to be shipped back to Vietnam? Is the UK sucking up the bill to pay for the corrupt Vietnamese? I would be so. It's the same for all the foreigners on your soil. Who pays the airfare for the people deported? In Thailand, it's the foreigners no doubt but in the US, it's probably a free ticket from Uncle Sam. Anyways, my point is the money is the only issue here and there's a lot of hypocrisy when it comes to that topic especially from Thais abusing other nations.

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1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

Agree with your post, except for the last part.

In my case being on long-stay in Thailand, travel-insurance (also covering re-patriation) is a very good solution.

When in my home-country (Belgium) I am very well-covered, as good as unlimited coverage at no cost because of having contributed during my working-life.

When in Thailand > For accidents and unforeseen illnesses I took a Belgian travel-insurance policy, extremely generous in all respects and costs only 250 Euro per year, covering all your trips to a max of 6 months per trip (after that you need to be back in Belgium for 2 weeks, in order that your next trips will be covered again).

As I visit my home-country at least once a year, that suits me fine.  And for the uncovered periods when I stay longer than 6 months in Thailand, I take an on-the-fly travel-insurance from WorldNomads for the exact number of days needed.  Cheap, fast and good coverage.

 

So a trip back home + living back home for 2 weeks every year add that to your 250 euro = ???

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5 hours ago, dotpoom said:

One can get "accident insurance" at the local bank for less than 2000 Bt..

Why should it be mandatory I don't need health insurance and don't want it why should I be forced into buying something I don't need just because of a handful/few irresponsible people. 

 

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4 hours ago, MarineEquine said:

But insurance companies would. 

I really don't think so.

 

Scuba diving, sky diving etc yes (though if you declare it and pay more you can get a special cover for such things). Accidents directly due to being intoxicated, yes.

 

I just tested an online quote for a 66 year old Canadian with hypertension (stable on medication). Around $175 Canadian for 1 month in Thailand.  Would be less of course if completely healthy.

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5 hours ago, dotpoom said:

One can get "accident insurance" at the local bank for less than 2000 Bt..

–Which covers next to nothing for hospitalization, but pays in lump sum – relative small – in case of death or permanent disability.

 

Still it's good to have a Personal Accident insurance, especially if you have no other insurance, but the payout is extremely limited, in my case with K-bank it is:

  • 750,000 baht for loss of life or total permanent disability from general accident
  • 20,000 baht medical expenses per accident (can be up to 50,00 baht for a Thai national)
  • 750 baht in compensation a day when hospitalized, not exceeding 365 days

For a serious accident like here, even at a government hospital the insurance is worth next to nothing, but still a little bit better than nothing.

 

Bangkok Bank has an insurance for nearly 2,500 baht a year with 30k baht hospitalization,, but less in loss of life and disability, i.e. 600k baht; remember it's normally half when driving a motorbike.

 

When travelling as tourist you really need a travel insurance with repatriation, and they are actually very affordable, and furthermore comes with very high limits compares to a health insurance. But they are only valid for travel, and with a limited period of time per travel. In my Scandinavian home country you can have one for less than $200 a year, but limited to 30 or 60 days for each travel.

 

Master Card Gold has in some cases a "build in" similar travel insurance included in the Master Card fee, might even be free (it is in my case). The "illness and accident" insurance is "unlimited" (except some limitations for pre-existing  medical conditions), and "evacuation", including companions, is covered with "reasonable and necessary expenses".

 

Repatriation is the key when travelling– you will be brought home – and the limit of cost is very high, if any. This is also the case here where some $75,000 is needed for that.

 

It's really not worth saving a few hundred $ for a travel insurance. I agree with @4MyEgo in post #2.

 

Hope the family find a solution to bring the injured father home.

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6 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Sad news, hope he recovers, but I cannot understand people that skimp out on health insurance and or travel insurance. From my calculations, it costs between 2-3 beers a day for someone that age, and yes I understand some can't get it because of their age and pre-existing conditions, but @ 66, come on, at least self insure, and at that age, if you haven't got money, you should stay in your home country as opposed to being a burden to others, harsh words, yes, but Thailand owes us nothing and we shouldn't be a burden on Thailand. No doubt I will cop some slack here for my open opinion, but it is what it is, the truth, he is now a financial burden to his family on both sides of the fence.

 

I would hate for something to happen to me which would make me a financial burden on my family, either side of the fence, so I take out medical insurance and travel insurance when I travel, sure it costs, but the burden is on me.

 

Strange as it may seem to you, some people have enough money to self insure.

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4 hours ago, ezzra said:

I'm thinking that it's high time travel insurance should be worldwide mandated and a must with every ticket purchased just like half a dozen of surcharges we pay when we buy an airline ticket so should be a bare minimum insurance policy to insure minimum coverage, with the provisions to increase the cover to suits individuals, this way billions will be saved not to mention griff and heartaches will saved to all concerns, be it governments or individuals...

Quite a socialist view.

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I hope this chap recovers, however, another day, another Fundraiser.!!

A frequent visitor to LOS without travel insurance?! This guy is not a youngster on his first backpacking adventure, he knows Thailand and should have been intelligent enough to know he needs adequate travel insurance.

There are enough warnings, leaflets, advice and TV programs in his home country warning of the perils of traveling anywhere without insurance.

His poor daughter now has to beg and borrow money just to get him home.

 

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4 hours ago, Presnock said:

For those talking about insurance in Thailand....I am 73 so I am well aware of cost of a thai insurance co for HEALTH insurance, thus I maintain my US insurer for my health insurance needs if I to need it and have been informed that in 2020 for their clients overseas, there is no deductible!  but as mentioned by several, ACCIDENT insurance (which I also have here in Thailand with a Thai agency - Muang Thai Insurance co. and at 73 it costs me 3400 baht per year.  This covers ANY ACCIDENT, not for health insurance.  But, it is not that much more expensive to add a 100,000 or more to the basic coverage which I think mine is either 300 or 400 thousand at my age, younger people can get the accident insurance for even less!  The hospitals for coverage (that accept it) are the top hospitals in Chiang Mai - we usually use Bangkok Hospital because of location.  The coverage for any accident my family has had (bitten by cat so rabies series after cleaning etc at hospital), broken finger, broken toe, back sprain with muscle spasms and all treatment was paid for by the insurance with absolutely no problem or delay.  All should at least have this insurance!

Sent you a private message and thank you for the information!

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6 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Sad news, hope he recovers, but I cannot understand people that skimp out on health insurance and or travel insurance. From my calculations, it costs between 2-3 beers a day for someone that age, and yes I understand some can't get it because of their age and pre-existing conditions, but @ 66, come on, at least self insure, and at that age, if you haven't got money, you should stay in your home country as opposed to being a burden to others, harsh words, yes, but Thailand owes us nothing and we shouldn't be a burden on Thailand. No doubt I will cop some slack here for my open opinion, but it is what it is, the truth, he is now a financial burden to his family on both sides of the fence.

 

I would hate for something to happen to me which would make me a financial burden on my family, either side of the fence, so I take out medical insurance and travel insurance when I travel, sure it costs, but the burden is on me.

 

Vancouver

 

Just for all posters. Dan has a heart condition and other medical problems which does not give him travel insurance coverage. Knowing that he always had $10,000 aside in case sth happened while in Thailand. Bad luck strikes. Do not say he was not prepared or didn't measures. 

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18 minutes ago, PEE TEE said:

good investment lets hope you never need to use it but nice to have to peace of mind best wishes 

Accident or travel insurance. 5.000 per month or per year? AXA Thailand  asks at least 10,000 for a decent year travel insurance,

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1 minute ago, Sumarianson said:

Once you get beyond 60 the insurance only want you at a high premium, normall not affordable by the average Joe.

Travel insurance is pretty affordable, much cheaper than regular insurance.. Costs more if there are significant pre-existing health conditions but still not bad given that it will cover around $1million in medical costs and medical evacuation.

 

I would also dispute the idea that normal insurance (which is not what he would have needed)  is not affordable for the average person after 60.  I'm 67, far from rich, been middle class all my life, and can  afford excellent health cover for myself in Thailand. I just give it a high priority.

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6 minutes ago, Gerrit1944 said:

Vancouver

 

Just for all posters. Dan has a heart condition and other medical problems which does not give him travel insurance coverage. Knowing that he always had $10,000 aside in case sth happened while in Thailand. Bad luck strikes. Do not say he was not prepared or didn't measures. 

I would be surprised if he was unable to get insurance with preexisting conditions excluded, as they usually are. This would still cover him for an accident if it is unrelated to a preexisting condition

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Im 66 from Canada...reasonable good health...here for 120 days... insurance is 525b a day times 120 days equal 63000b...that my friends is a big expense, unless you are rich, which i am not...this will probably be my last trip out of Canada...

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No matter what insurance you have I doubt many of us would be able to get flown back "home" ?

I am "resident" here like many, my home address is Thailand, why would any insurance company fly me to another country at their expense?

If I am taken ill in another country my insurance would repatriate me to Thailand - Not my home country!

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6 hours ago, friendphil said:

I BELIEVE that you're way off on the 2-3 beers per day cost of insurance.  And at that age, when I lived in Thailand, it simply was not available, at least through Thai providers, and the farang provider options that were available were simply out of reach of most farangs living in Thailand. 

I know ex-pat insurance is expensive but as I see it this guy was on vacation. Even at his age, travel insurance would of been relatively cheap.

 

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If you all read the article the man is looking to go back to his country in his current medical condition. No standard insurance will cover this. If he has been living in Thailand he does not qualify for travel because he is living not traveling. Travel insurance is good for a few months then it very expensive. 
 

If he want to be repatriated back to his home country under his current medical conditions This is special Airmed Evac insurance. Depending on your condition it is $500 to $800 usd. 
 

So, my take on the article is not regular insurance in which most expat have but Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance. Yes, Travel insurance covers this but this guy is a long term expat “Not a tourist on short stay”. 

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