Confused about Thai approved health insurance for yearly extension based on Non Imm O-A visa

[Langsuan Man]

As an O-A visa holder on my second year of my Visa I have followed all the threads concerning this Thai Health Insurance scam here 

 

So far I have only read of one TV member that was able to get the foreign insurance certificate signed by his insurance company in Germany.  I am waiting for someone from the US to post that they have gotten a US insurer to sign the form

 

Till then it is vaporware for my purposes   

[Fraser Brown]

18 hours ago, Keith5588 said:

Thanks Peter,

I was thinking the same as you in not letting my extension of stay slip.

But I was thinking differently in that I intend to start my insurance about 1 week before my current extension of stay finishes lets say on the 24th June.

I then go to Immigration on the 25th June and my insurance will be on the TGIA database. 

I go to immigration once and the worst that can happen is the IO not giving me a whole year extension, but ending my next extension when my health insurance finishes on 24 June 2021. 

I would rather have a 51 week extension than to go to Immigration twice.

Is my thinking right?

Cheers

Keith

Extended my O-A at Chaeng Wattana this past week using a similar strategy and received my extension until the date of the expiry of my insurance. As the IO was perusing my application/documents I was informed that I would only receive my extension to the expiry of the insurance, viz 51 week extension. 

[Peter Denis]

14 hours ago, Keith5588 said:

Just to let you all know that some health insurance brokers believe that you can renew your extension of stay with health insurance from Insurance companies, in this case Regency, that are not on the TGIA list. In fact they say that they have had clients that have done it.

 

My email to “NowCompare”

Hi X,

I think maybe we have some misunderstanding. I initially received a telephone call from X and I said that I will need to renew my yearly extension of stay based on retirement and that I need health insurance because my original visa is a Non Imm O-A.

Does Regency's policy cover me for my Thailand one year extension of stay?

 

Their reply

Hi Keith,

As far as we are aware Regency would be a valid insurer to obtain your VISA extension. We have clients that have received their first VISA with this policy and we have had clients that have received VISA extensions with it.

I have some serious doubts about the statement by NowCompare.

1 - You can ONLY apply for a Non Imm O-A Visa in your home-country, and this requires a health-insurance policy that meets IO requirements and is confirmed by an Insurance Certificate issued by your insurer.  So I doubt that an applicant in his home-country would subscribe to the thai Regency health-insurance policy just to be able to apply for the Non Imm O-A Visa at his home-country's thai embassy.  It would be far easier for them to simply enter Thailand VisaExempt or on a Tourist Visa, and once in country apply for the Non Imm O - retirement Visa at his local IO as that Non Imm O - retirement Visa does NOT require any IO-approved health-insurance.

2 - The reports I read from Non Imm O-A Visa holders that applied for a 1-year extension of stay at their local IO for reason of retirement, and subscribed to the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance policy, tell a different story than what NowCompare claims (at least in CW and CM).

Those applicants were denied their 1-year extension of stay till the details of their health-insurance policy were accessible in the TGIA Insurance database.  Due to an anomaly in the process those policy details are only uploaded in the TGIA insurance database on the last day of their current permission to stay, forcing them to come back on that last day so that IO can check that the data on their Insurance Certificate are indeed compliant with the data in that TGIA insurance database.  And only then their 1-year extension of stay application is approved.

With Regency not being on the list of TGIA insurers, IO would not be able to check the policy data in the TGIA database.

It is possible that IO would show leniency and still approve the application, or that not all IOs do this TGIA database check, but why take the risk when the PoliceOrder clearly mentions the TGIA database.

Conclusion:

If the health-insurance policy from Regency fully meets your insurance needs and you want to subscribe to their policy, it would be very much recommended to first check with your local IO whether they would accept a non-TGIA issued Thai IO-approved health-insurance policy when you apply for your 1-year extension of your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

If that is not the case, you would still be required to take a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy to have your 1-year extension approved.  The cheapest available thai IO-approved healht-insurance policy is the one offered by LMG Insurance (6.000 THB to 11.700 THB annual premium in the age bracket 51 to 75, with a deductible of 200K).

Please note that content-wise that LMG policy is as good as worthless and should only be regarded as an entry-ticket allowing you to extend your Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

 

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, Fraser Brown said:

Extended my O-A at Chaeng Wattana this past week using a similar strategy and received my extension until the date of the expiry of my insurance. As the IO was perusing my application/documents I was informed that I would only receive my extension to the expiry of the insurance, viz 51 week extension. 

Thanks for your report.

It seems that IO's approach to this matter is somewhat fluid (as usual).

An applicant for his O-A extension (also at CW) reported a couple of weeks ago, that he was forced to have his thai IO-approved policy start date changed so that it was aligned with this 1-year extension of stay, and that he had to come back on the last day of his permission to stay to get his application approved.

[NZAMBOY]

Hi All...in my particular case, i plan to return to Thailand a few weeks before my O-A visa expires mid September 2020 and will be expecting one year reentry visa stamped on my passport...altho i did receive my original O-A visa last year, before the insurance requirement, i'm assuming an insurance policy will now be required...

my question is,  will it be possible to buy the required insurance online prior to my arrival, in order to present it to IO on entry or, if not, will be allowed entry with time to purchase the required insurance???

thanks in advance!!!

James

[ubonjoe]

17 minutes ago, NZAMBOY said:

Hi All...in my particular case, i plan to return to Thailand a few weeks before my O-A visa expires mid September 2020 and will be expecting one year reentry visa stamped on my passport...altho i did receive my original O-A visa last year, before the insurance requirement, i'm assuming an insurance policy will now be required...

You will not need insurance since your visa was issued prior to October 31st.

[Peter Denis]

26 minutes ago, NZAMBOY said:

Hi All...in my particular case, i plan to return to Thailand a few weeks before my O-A visa expires mid September 2020 and will be expecting one year reentry visa stamped on my passport...altho i did receive my original O-A visa last year, before the insurance requirement, i'm assuming an insurance policy will now be required...

my question is,  will it be possible to buy the required insurance online prior to my arrival, in order to present it to IO on entry or, if not, will be allowed entry with time to purchase the required insurance???

thanks in advance!!!

James

When you enter Thailand before the validity date of your Non Imm O-A Visa expires mid september 2020, you will be stamped in again for the 1-year permission to stay that Visa entitles you to.  So when entering beginning of september 2020, you will be stamped in with a permission to stay till september 2021.  NO need for health-insurance during your Non Imm O-A Visa validity as well as during the permission to stay it provides you. 

After that a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy will be required when you apply for a 1-year extension of stay at your local IO based on that original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

I PM-ed you a comprehensive guideline document outlining all details/options to avoid that #$%^ health-insurance scam, by converting to a Non Imm O - retirement Visa.  The requirements/conditions of a 1-year extension for a Non Imm O or a Non Imm O-A Visa are exactly the same, with the one difference that the Non Imm O retirement extension does not require health-insurance.

Edited May 17, 2020 by Peter Denis

[RocketDog]

On 5/16/2020 at 11:50 AM, ubonjoe said:

Laos is closed to all entries at this time. Same for the other nearby countries.

It is maybe for next month.

You could just let your extension expire and stay until July 31st under the amnesty. Perhaps by then the borders will be open.

Yes. You can stay.

However, there are some TVF members who hypothesize that some immigration offices will not allow you to renew your permission to stay if you go past the original permission end date. There seems no authoritative answer to this now. Immigration policy is incoherent at best and I've tired of running the gauntlet with them. 

 

That would force one to leave the country and start the OA application again from one's home country or stay and apply for the O visa which doesn't require insurance (at this time). 

 

I took the coward's way out and chose to bite the bullet and purchase Pacific Cross insurance to extend my permission to stay on May 22. A doctor exam at San Paulo hospital was required (11,684 thb) but was thorough and I wanted to get one anyway.

I'm 70 and got their Standard Extra policy with 100,000 thb (32% discount from no deductible price) deductible for a base price of ~32,500 thb/yr. It has nearly twice the coverage required by immigration. 

 

Next year I will probably leave the kingdom for a short vist to USA near the time my extension ends again and return to get an O visa. I'll approach the insurance question again at that time. 

 

Peter Denis has studied this issue with diligence and I agree that LMG is indeed the cheapest and likewise the most useless. I spoke to them too but decided I was willing to pay more this year to get a policy that might actually pay for Healthcare. How that works out remains to be proven if I ever make a claim. At least I'm off the hook for another year and that helps my mental health a lot right now. 

[ubonjoe]

9 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

That would force one to leave the country and start the OA application again from one's home country or stay and apply for the O visa which doesn't require insurance (at this time). 

That was his intention to do before his current stay expires but he cannot leave and re-enter the country at this time. Being on the amnesty allowa more time for him to stay until he can do it.

He wanted to get a visa exempt entry or apply for a non-o visa at Savannakhet.

[Keith5588]

5 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

I have some serious doubts about the statement by NowCompare.

1 - You can ONLY apply for a Non Imm O-A Visa in your home-country, and this requires a health-insurance policy that meets IO requirements and is confirmed by an Insurance Certificate issued by your insurer.  So I doubt that an applicant in his home-country would subscribe to the thai Regency health-insurance policy just to be able to apply for the Non Imm O-A Visa at his home-country's thai embassy.  It would be far easier for them to simply enter Thailand VisaExempt or on a Tourist Visa, and once in country apply for the Non Imm O - retirement Visa at his local IO as that Non Imm O - retirement Visa does NOT require any IO-approved health-insurance.

2 - The reports I read from Non Imm O-A Visa holders that applied for a 1-year extension of stay at their local IO for reason of retirement, and subscribed to the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance policy, tell a different story than what NowCompare claims (at least in CW and CM).

Those applicants were denied their 1-year extension of stay till the details of their health-insurance policy were accessible in the TGIA Insurance database.  Due to an anomaly in the process those policy details are only uploaded in the TGIA insurance database on the last day of their current permission to stay, forcing them to come back on that last day so that IO can check that the data on their Insurance Certificate are indeed compliant with the data in that TGIA insurance database.  And only then their 1-year extension of stay application is approved.

With Regency not being on the list of TGIA insurers, IO would not be able to check the policy data in the TGIA database.

It is possible that IO would show leniency and still approve the application, or that not all IOs do this TGIA database check, but why take the risk when the PoliceOrder clearly mentions the TGIA database.

Conclusion:

If the health-insurance policy from Regency fully meets your insurance needs and you want to subscribe to their policy, it would be very much recommended to first check with your local IO whether they would accept a non-TGIA issued Thai IO-approved health-insurance policy when you apply for your 1-year extension of your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

If that is not the case, you would still be required to take a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy to have your 1-year extension approved.  The cheapest available thai IO-approved healht-insurance policy is the one offered by LMG Insurance (6.000 THB to 11.700 THB annual premium in the age bracket 51 to 75, with a deductible of 200K).

Please note that content-wise that LMG policy is as good as worthless and should only be regarded as an entry-ticket allowing you to extend your Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

 

Thanks Peter, I have serious doubts as well concerning the statement by NowCompare. When I sat down to get some quotes I contacted 3 places, one being NowCompare, it was just a final email to them to see what they say, I think a small chance that they are correct but I am now happy to go ahead with LMG for 7,700 baht in about 3 or 4 weeks from now. 

As said I will enquire about it with my local IO, then I will try to get it all done in one visit just before my current extension finishes. I will post on here what happens to me.

Thanks

Keith

[Martyp]

8 hours ago, Fraser Brown said:

Extended my O-A at Chaeng Wattana this past week using a similar strategy and received my extension until the date of the expiry of my insurance. As the IO was perusing my application/documents I was informed that I would only receive my extension to the expiry of the insurance, viz 51 week extension. 

Interesting. I use CW as well. My extension expires in November. Up until now I have renewed 45 days early but I may have to change that plan. I will contact Pacific Cross about how they think they can align my insurance coverage with my extension dates. Then I will go to CW and ask them want they think about that plan knowing that that advice may of questionable reliability. Personally I don't care much if I lose a week of extension but I don't want to have a problem just a week before expiration.

[Tony M]

On 5/16/2020 at 10:17 AM, Peter Denis said:

Since a couple of months there is now a somewhat affordable thai IO-approved health-insurance policy available.  It is issued by LMG Insurance and when opting for the 200K/20K deductible the annual premium costs between 6.000 THB and 11.700 THB in the age-brackets of 51 till 75.

Another advantage is that subscribing to that LMG policy does NOT require a medical examination, you just need to fill out the application questionnaire, and after payment you receive your certificate a couple of days later.

Please note that this thai IO-approved policy is NO substitute for 'real' health-insurance, because the coverage is basically worthless.  It should only be regarded as an entry-ticket for meeting the thai IO-approved health-insurance requirement when applying for a 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

 

I'm reading this thread with interest, but can I ask for some explanation of your post ?  What is this "policy", and why is it basically worthless ?  What does it cover, or not cover ?  What does an "entry-ticket to meeting the...approved...requirement" mean ?

[Peter Denis]

17 minutes ago, Tony M said:

I'm reading this thread with interest, but can I ask for some explanation of your post ?  What is this "policy", and why is it basically worthless ?  What does it cover, or not cover ?  What does an "entry-ticket to meeting the...approved...requirement" mean ?

Thousands of posts have been made on this subject, but I'll try to provide a short (incomplete) overview.

1 - Since October 31, 2019 all new applications for a Non Imm O-A Visa (can only be applied for at the thai embassy in your home-country) need to comply with the requirement of having a valid health-insurance policy providing as a minimum 400.000 THB in-patient coverage and 40.000 THB out-patient coverage.  The evidence required is either a Certificate from a thai TGIA-associated insurer stating that your policy meets the IO requirements, or a Foreign Insurance Certificate issued by your foreign insurer stating that your policy meets those IO requirements.

Note: It is very difficult - almost impossible - to get such a signed FIC as the certificate refers to thai legislation that foreign insurers are not familiar with and hence unwilling to sign.

As a result there have been very little applications for a Non Imm O-A Visa since the health-insurance requirement was added. 

2 - The health-insurance requirement has also been made mandatory for those staying in Thailand on a previously issued Non Imm O-A Visa.  So when applying at your local IO for a 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement, you need to show that you did subscribe to a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy that meets the 400K/40K in-patient/out-patient coverage and has been issued by a TGIA-associated insurer.

The PoliceOrder clearly states that only thai IO-approved insurance by a TGIA-associated insurer is accepted, so when you have foreign insurance that meets the coverage requirements or thai insurance by a non Thai-associated insurer, your application will be turned down.

3 - The above means that thai TGIA-associated insurers have a virtual monopoly on those mandatory health-insurance policies.

Those thai IO-approved policies are exorbitantly expensive for the low coverage they provide (e.g. if you are 83 years of old, the annual premium amounts to 380.000 THB and that for a coverage which is capped at 400.000 THB - ridiculous!).

4 - When that health-insurance requirement was introduced (31 Oct 2019) the cheapest thai IO-approved policy was the one offered by PacificCross.  When 60 years old, and taking the highest deductible, it would still cost you approx 25.000 THB annual premium, without any deductible the annual premium would be at least 50.000 THB.

But since a couple of months LMG Insurance introduced a somewhat affordable policy, for an annual premium of 6.000 THB to 11.700 THB when in the age bracket of 51 to 75, and opting for the highest deductible (200K).

5 - Many have welcomed that affordable LMG policy and use it simply as an 'entry-ticket' to meet the 1-year Non Imm O-A retirement extension requirement for health-insurance.

Obviously a health-insurance policy that is capped to 400K/40K coverage, and of which the first 200K/20K have to be paid by yourself is virtually worthless.  If you have a serious illness/accident the 400K max coverage will of course not be sufficient to cover the health-care bills.

Most of those thai IO-approved health-insurance policies are capped to the IO requirements of 400K/40K coverage, and since that is not sufficient anyway to cover you, you might as well choose for the dirt-cheapest one (LMG Insurance).

6 - So in effect this thai IO-approved health-insurance requirement when applying for a Non Imm O-A Visa or a 1-year extension of such Visa for reason of retirement, is not only exorbitantly expensive but it also provides you with a false sense of security (I have health-insurance).

But don't confuse this thai IO-approved health-insurance with REAL insurance. 

If you want to extend your stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa opt for the cheapest policy (LMG) and use the money saved to look for an international or thai health-insurance policy that will cover your REAL needs. 

7 - As mentioned in [1] the number of new applications for a Non Imm O-A Visa has dropped dramatically, and similarly those already staying in Thailand on a Non Imm O-A Visa are looking for ways to avoid this $%^&* health-insurance scam (because that's what it is: a scam).

And luckily there are surprisingly simple ways of getting rid of that health-insurance requirement, e.g. by exiting Thailand and on return apply for a Non Imm O - retirement Visa and subsequent 1-year extension.  The conditions/requirements for a Non Imm O - retirement extension and an O-A extension are identical, with the ONE difference that that a Non Imm O - retirement extension does NOT require any health-insurance.

8 - I compiled a comprehensive guidance document addressing all details/options to apply for such a Non Imm O - retirement Visa (as well as addressing some other options to avoid the health-insurance scam, e.g. switching to a marriage or dependant child category instead of the retirement category).

Feel free to PM me if you'd like receive a copy.

 

[Tony M]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

Thousands of posts have been made on this subject, but I'll try to provide a short (incomplete) overview.

1 - Since October 31, 2019 all new applications for a Non Imm O-A Visa (can only be applied for at the thai embassy in your home-country) need to comply with the requirement of having a valid health-insurance policy providing as a minimum 400.000 THB in-patient coverage and 40.000 THB out-patient coverage.  The evidence required is either a Certificate from a thai TGIA-associated insurer stating that your policy meets the IO requirements, or a Foreign Insurance Certificate issued by your foreign insurer stating that your policy meets those IO requirements.

Note: It is very difficult - almost impossible - to get such a signed FIC as the certificate refers to thai legislation that foreign insurers are not familiar with and hence unwilling to sign.

As a result there have been very little applications for a Non Imm O-A Visa since the health-insurance requirement was added. 

2 - The health-insurance requirement has also been made mandatory for those staying in Thailand on a previously issued Non Imm O-A Visa.  So when applying at your local IO for a 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement, you need to show that you did subscribe to a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy that meets the 400K/40K in-patient/out-patient coverage and has been issued by a TGIA-associated insurer.

The PoliceOrder clearly states that only thai IO-approved insurance by a TGIA-associated insurer is accepted, so when you have foreign insurance that meets the coverage requirements or thai insurance by a non Thai-associated insurer, your application will be turned down.

3 - The above means that thai TGIA-associated insurers have a virtual monopoly on those mandatory health-insurance policies.

Those thai IO-approved policies are exorbitantly expensive for the low coverage they provide (e.g. if you are 83 years of old, the annual premium amounts to 380.000 THB and that for a coverage which is capped at 400.000 THB - ridiculous!).

4 - When that health-insurance requirement was introduced (31 Oct 2019) the cheapest thai IO-approved policy was the one offered by PacificCross.  When 60 years old, and taking the highest deductible, it would still cost you approx 25.000 THB annual premium, without any deductible the annual premium would be at least 50.000 THB.

But since a couple of months LMG Insurance introduced a somewhat affordable policy, for an annual premium of 6.000 THB to 11.700 THB when in the age bracket of 51 to 75, and opting for the highest deductible (200K).

5 - Many have welcomed that affordable LMG policy and use it simply as an 'entry-ticket' to meet the 1-year Non Imm O-A retirement extension requirement for health-insurance.

Obviously a health-insurance policy that is capped to 400K/40K coverage, and of which the first 200K/20K have to be paid by yourself is virtually worthless.  If you have a serious illness/accident the 400K max coverage will of course not be sufficient to cover the health-care bills.

Most of those thai IO-approved health-insurance policies are capped to the IO requirements of 400K/40K coverage, and since that is not sufficient anyway to cover you, you might as well choose for the dirt-cheapest one (LMG Insurance).

6 - So in effect this thai IO-approved health-insurance requirement when applying for a Non Imm O-A Visa or a 1-year extension of such Visa for reason of retirement, is not only exorbitantly expensive but it also provides you with a false sense of security (I have health-insurance).

But don't confuse this thai IO-approved health-insurance with REAL insurance. 

If you want to extend your stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa opt for the cheapest policy (LMG) and use the money saved to look for an international or thai health-insurance policy that will cover your REAL needs. 

7 - As mentioned in [1] the number of new applications for a Non Imm O-A Visa has dropped dramatically, and similarly those already staying in Thailand on a Non Imm O-A Visa are looking for ways to avoid this $%^&* health-insurance scam (because that's what it is: a scam).

And luckily there are surprisingly simple ways of getting rid of that health-insurance requirement, e.g. by exiting Thailand and on return apply for a Non Imm O - retirement Visa and subsequent 1-year extension.  The conditions/requirements for a Non Imm O - retirement extension and an O-A extension are identical, with the ONE difference that that a Non Imm O - retirement extension does NOT require any health-insurance.

8 - I compiled a comprehensive guidance document addressing all details/options to apply for such a Non Imm O - retirement Visa (as well as addressing some other options to avoid the health-insurance scam, e.g. switching to a marriage or dependant child category instead of the retirement category).

Feel free to PM me if you'd like receive a copy.

 

Thank you for the detailed and comprehensive reply ! It makes things a lot clearer.  I have checked the LMG website about this policy, and the policy details (concerning payments) are pretty vague, stating "customary and reasonable medical charges" will be covered.  

[Tanoshi]

8 minutes ago, Tony M said:

Thank you for the detailed and comprehensive reply ! It makes things a lot clearer.  I have checked the LMG website about this policy, and the policy details (concerning payments) are pretty vague, stating "customary and reasonable medical charges" will be covered.  

Scroll down for a list of what they consider customary and reasonable medical charges.

https://www.lmginsurance.co.th/en/Products/Documents/Universal - Long Stay VISA OA with Deductible Feb 2020.pdf

 

1.2 Intensive care unit (ICU/CCU) (Maximum 30 days) (Maximum benefits for Standard room, ICU/CCU would not exceeding 365 days per any injury or illness) 
2. Hospital general expenses per disability

2.1 Costs of drugs and intravenous feeding

2.2 Costs of blood  transfusion 

2.3 Cost of ambulance for medical emergency (IPD only) 1,000 1,000 1,000

2.4 Cost of laboratory test / Cost of medical equipment / Physical therapy as inpatient / Cost of operating room and operating equipment / Anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist / Specialist’s consultation fee when  no surgery is performed / Take home drugs prescribed by physician on discharge

2.5 Cost of outpatient emergency treatment due to injury within 24 hours of the injury or accident occurring including 15 days follow up

2.6 Follow up treatment within 30 days on discharge

2.7 Day Cases Surgery**

3. Surgeon’s operation fee per disability (Including Surgical consultation) 

4. In-patient Physician's fees for doctor visits (Max 1 visit per day) 

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, Tony M said:

Thank you for the detailed and comprehensive reply ! It makes things a lot clearer.  I have checked the LMG website about this policy, and the policy details (concerning payments) are pretty vague, stating "customary and reasonable medical charges" will be covered.  

Yes, as mentioned the coverage that LMG Insurance policy provides is as good as worthless.  But then again, you should not subscribe to it for the coverage it provides.  The ONLY reason for subscribing to that policy is that is the dirt-cheapest of the lot (an additional advantage being that it does NOT require a medical exam to subscribe to it).  And that it is accepted by IO when applying for a 1-year extension of your Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

[Tony M]

3 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Scroll down for a list of what they consider customary and reasonable medical charges.

https://www.lmginsurance.co.th/en/Products/Documents/Universal - Long Stay VISA OA with Deductible Feb 2020.pdf

 

1.2 Intensive care unit (ICU/CCU) (Maximum 30 days) (Maximum benefits for Standard room, ICU/CCU would not exceeding 365 days per any injury or illness) 
2. Hospital general expenses per disability

2.1 Costs of drugs and intravenous feeding

2.2 Costs of blood  transfusion 

2.3 Cost of ambulance for medical emergency (IPD only) 1,000 1,000 1,000

2.4 Cost of laboratory test / Cost of medical equipment / Physical therapy as inpatient / Cost of operating room and operating equipment / Anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist / Specialist’s consultation fee when  no surgery is performed / Take home drugs prescribed by physician on discharge

2.5 Cost of outpatient emergency treatment due to injury within 24 hours of the injury or accident occurring including 15 days follow up

2.6 Follow up treatment within 30 days on discharge

2.7 Day Cases Surgery**

3. Surgeon’s operation fee per disability (Including Surgical consultation) 

4. In-patient Physician's fees for doctor visits (Max 1 visit per day) 

Thanks. Very helpful.

[Tony M]

3 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Yes, as mentioned the coverage that LMG Insurance policy provides is as good as worthless.  But then again, you should not subscribe to it for the coverage it provides.  The ONLY reason for subscribing to that policy is that is the dirt-cheapest of the lot (an additional advantage being that it does NOT require a medical exam to subscribe to it).  And that it is accepted by IO when applying for a 1-year extension of your Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

Understood. Many thanks.

[JimGant]

On 5/16/2020 at 12:40 PM, ubonjoe said:

You can stay until July 31st since after your extension ends the only way to stay in the country would require leaving and re-entering the country which is not possible at this time.

Actually, if you got an anal IO, he might say, 'you could have extended, had you gotten a TGIA approved health policy.' But, hey, this isn't going to happen when you slip over the border post July 31 -- just one of thousands leaving with expired permissions of stay -- with no questions asked if such expired post March 26, and no overstay fines.

 

BUT, to me, the easiest and obvious solution is get the 7000 LMG policy (cheap, really, considering all the circumstances). In a couple of weeks from now, with this policy, you can extend for a year -- and not worry for a year about having to leave the country at a near date, fight the hoards applying for visas at adjacent country consulates, or fighting a hoard converting from non visa entry to Non Imm O -- or worrying about borders shutting down once again with a virus re-occurrence. No, get the LMG, renew the permission of stay, then sit back, happily without travel necessary, and take a year to plan your Non Imm O acquisition game plan. Hey, my O-A extension doesn't expire until Sept -- but the LMG route is now my game plan, as even if the border gates open before Sept (probably), I still suspect bedlam unfolding. Thus, bite the bullet (in my case 16000 bt for LMG, but still ok), stay in country in my easy chair, and then get another year to ponder the options.

[Peter Denis]

6 minutes ago, JimGant said:

...

Hey, my O-A extension doesn't expire until Sept -- but the LMG route is now my game plan, as even if the border gates open before Sept (probably), I still suspect bedlam unfolding. Thus, bite the bullet (in my case 16000 bt for LMG, but still ok), stay in country in my easy chair, and then get another year to ponder the options.

You quote 16.000 THB for subscribing to the LMG Insurance.

Are you not opting for the 200K deductible, which will considerably lower (probably half) the cost of that insurance? 

[JimGant]

1 minute ago, Peter Denis said:

You quote 16.000 THB for subscribing to the LMG Insurance.

Are you not opting for the 200K deductible, which will considerably lower (probably half) the cost of that insurance? 

I don't have the chart handy, but for a 75 year old, with 200k deductible, I had interpolated approximmatey 16k. Cheap, compared to the competitors.

 

Just a passing thought:

 

Quote

By requiring foreign retirees to have health insurance, they can be ensured that they will be taken care of when they get ill and in case of an accident. This measure will solve over 100 million baht fees left unpaid by foreign patients. The measure will prevent foreigners from doing a runner for hospital fees.

I love this. With a 200,000 deductible, how will this prevent the indigent farang from doing a runner, at least on the first 200K? (Yeah, yeah, between the hospital and the insurance company, a 600,000 bill will be sixfold actual out-of-pocket costs for the hospital, so the scam actually suffers no losses, in most cases....) Anyway, if the TGIA mafia and hospitals are happy -- and I can renew my extension -- heck. life's good.

[Peter Denis]

10 minutes ago, JimGant said:

I don't have the chart handy, but for a 75 year old, with 200k deductible, I had interpolated approximmatey 16k. Cheap, compared to the competitors.

Good News for you.

Don't know your age, but the maximum annual LMG Insurance premium for a 75 year old opting for the 200K deductible is 11.700,- THB.

[Tuvoc]

5 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

 

 The conditions/requirements for a Non Imm O - retirement extension and an O-A extension are identical, with the ONE difference that that a Non Imm O - retirement extension does NOT require any health-insurance.

 

 

 

I wonder how long that situation will continue. The O-A implementation may just be a first step to test the logistics etc on a small volume first before widening the scope. It makes very little sense. Yes it has always been a requirement for the O-X but the number of those must be infinitesimal.

[Peter Denis]

30 minutes ago, Tuvoc said:

 

I wonder how long that situation will continue. The O-A implementation may just be a first step to test the logistics etc on a small volume first before widening the scope. It makes very little sense. Yes it has always been a requirement for the O-X but the number of those must be infinitesimal.

Possible but not very probable...

There are many arguments NOT to 'widen the scope' and also impose such health-insurance requirement on the retirees living in Thailand on a Non Imm O - retirement Visa or extension.

Just to mention a couple:

- Immigration is NOT the requesting party for this, the Non Imm O-A Visa health-insurance requirement project only means more work for them (additional checks that need to be conducted, retirees switching to a marriage-extension, etc);

- When over 75 years of age there are no TGIA IO-approved health-insurance policies that retirees can subscribe to (so the present 'easy' solution by IO advising them to switch to a Non Imm O retirement Visa would not be possible anymore);

- A Non Imm O Visa only provides a 90-day permission to stay, so difficult/impossible to impose a 1-year health-insurance policy on such a Visa (but - admitted - they could impose it on the 1-year extension);

- The Non Imm O-A Visa health-insurance requirement experiment was a total failure both in design and execution, as well as in the projected results it was meant to generate.

The fact that Phuket IO is now conducting a 'trial project' not to enforce the health-insurance requirement anymore on 1-year extensions of stay for Non Imm O-A Visa holders, is kind of an admissal that it's not worth continuing on that March of Folly.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Peter Denis

[JimGant]

8 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Good News for you.

Don't know your age, but the maximum annual LMG Insurance premium for a 75 year old opting for the 200K deductible is 11.700,- THB.

Hmm. Their chart has age "71-75" at 11,400 premium; age "76-100" at 16,900. I can only assume those premium numbers are for the beginning age for each of those brackets. Thus, each year has an increase of 1100 bt, meaning my age 75 premium would be 15,800. Which ain't a game changer amongst this whole mess.

[Langsuan Man]

Here is the chart for LMG, highlight is my own:

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Langsuan Man

[Peter Denis]

9 hours ago, JimGant said:

Hmm. Their chart has age "71-75" at 11,400 premium; age "76-100" at 16,900. I can only assume those premium numbers are for the beginning age for each of those brackets. Thus, each year has an increase of 1100 bt, meaning my age 75 premium would be 15,800. Which ain't a game changer amongst this whole mess.

Your presumption is not correct.  The premium stated is applicable for anyone within that age bracket. 

You being 75 years of age your annual premium will be 11.400 THB.

Please note that once you are 76 years of age or older, you cannot subscribe to that LMG Insurance policy anymore (nor for any other thai IO-approved health-insurance policy).  But if you subscribed before 76 years of age, you can prolonge it every year (at the 16.900 THB annual premium).

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

Here is the chart for LMG, highlight is my own:

 

 

 

Hi Langsuan Man,

If you are in the 51-60 years of age category, subscribing to that LMG Insurance (6.000 THB annual premium) is almost surely your best option when you apply for the Non Imm O-A Visa when back in USA.  Since the LMG Insurance does not require a medical exam, but can be obtained by filling in the extensive application form it should be possible to subscribe to it while in US, but might be worthwhile to check already now with them about the options to provide you with a copy of the policy and the Insurance certificate (not sure whether original copies are required or that a scanned version sent by e-mail would suffice when applying).

The METV option for 6-months annual stays in Thailand, is also an option but would invoke the hassle of border-runs (and associated transport and entry-Visa costs) or 30-day extensions (at 1.900 THB per extension).

[Tanoshi]

10 hours ago, JimGant said:

Hmm. Their chart has age "71-75" at 11,400 premium; age "76-100" at 16,900. I can only assume those premium numbers are for the beginning age for each of those brackets. Thus, each year has an increase of 1100 bt, meaning my age 75 premium would be 15,800. Which ain't a game changer amongst this whole mess.

At 75 years of age, this would be your last opportunity to take out a Policy, which can be renewed until age 100. You cannot take out the Policy after reaching age 76.

 

Entry age up to 75 years old and Renewability to age 100 years.

https://www.lmginsurance.co.th/en/Products/Pages/Universal-Longstayvisa.aspx

[Langsuan Man]

1 minute ago, Peter Denis said:

If you are in the 51-60 years of age category

Sorry Peter, wrong highlighted chart, I am in the 71-75 (72) bracket at 11,400 THB per year from LMG