Bupa Insurance Not Accepted At Pattaya International

[stevepattaya]

Having purchased some expensive insurance from BUPA, the aim was purely and simply that in the event of an emergency no matter which hospital we had to go to, the insurance would cover us and our fate not held in the hands of a bunch of accountants. Yesterday my partner had the need to be admitted to PI hospital, but were told that they do not accept BUPA any more as BUPA had not met various payments.

No biggy this time, but not what we want to hear if I had been mangled by a pick up on Sukhumvit.

The doctor went as far as to say they have problems with BUPA and some American companies.

So I post this as a warning to my fellow expats, and secondly anyone know of a reliable insurance company that provides a good medical policy!

[begsaresponse]

Having purchased some expensive insurance from BUPA, the aim was purely and simply that in the event of an emergency no matter which hospital we had to go to, the insurance would cover us and our fate not held in the hands of a bunch of accountants. Yesterday my partner had the need to be admitted to PI hospital, but were told that they do not accept BUPA any more as BUPA had not met various payments.

No biggy this time, but not what we want to hear if I had been mangled by a pick up on Sukhumvit.

The doctor went as far as to say they have problems with BUPA and some American companies.

So I post this as a warning to my fellow expats, and secondly anyone know of a reliable insurance company that provides a good medical policy!

What we were told by our agent here in Pattaya was if we need treatment we pay for it first then claim back from BUPA directly.

[stevepattaya]

Having purchased some expensive insurance from BUPA, the aim was purely and simply that in the event of an emergency no matter which hospital we had to go to, the insurance would cover us and our fate not held in the hands of a bunch of accountants. Yesterday my partner had the need to be admitted to PI hospital, but were told that they do not accept BUPA any more as BUPA had not met various payments.

No biggy this time, but not what we want to hear if I had been mangled by a pick up on Sukhumvit.

The doctor went as far as to say they have problems with BUPA and some American companies.

So I post this as a warning to my fellow expats, and secondly anyone know of a reliable insurance company that provides a good medical policy!

What we were told by our agent here in Pattaya was if we need treatment we pay for it first then claim back from BUPA directly.

hmmm ... interesting. I specifically asked for a 'good' insurance policy that would be accepted by the big hospitals here. I didn't want to be lying on a trolley having to prove I could pay B500,000 to get fixed up. I wanted a policy that is accepted by the hospitals ... as indeed I was told PI and Bangkok Pattaya did accept BUPA ... sounds like I was sold a pup ...

[Tammi]

It could be that BUPA does not pay for treatments at some hospitals because the hospital does not come up to BUPA standards.

There should be a booklet from BUPA saying which hospitals they will pay for.

Edited January 28, 2008 by Tammi

[ThaivisaInsurance]

Stevepattaya

Unfortunately Pattaya International is a law unto itself and no insurance company will deal with it directly. That is not to say the insurance companies will not pay - they will – but due to the problems they have all had with P.I. in the past they will not deal directly.

BUPA – if you look on the ‘Network’ list of hospitals and clinics document you were given with the policy you will not see P.I. listed.

[stevepattaya]

It could be that BUPA does not pay for treatments at some hospitals because the hospital does not come up to BUPA standards.

There should be a booklet from BUPA saying which hospitals they will pay for.

there si .. and it lists Bangkok Pattaya, Pattaya Internatinal and memorial!!

[ThaivisaInsurance]

It could be that BUPA does not pay for treatments at some hospitals because the hospital does not come up to BUPA standards.

There should be a booklet from BUPA saying which hospitals they will pay for.

there si .. and it lists Bangkok Pattaya, Pattaya Internatinal and memorial!!

Strange - I have just checked our copy and it is dated 15/11/2004 (Rev. 13) with P.I. Hospital not listed.

[barryofthailand]

I have had Bupa for four years, and never had a problem with them paying direct. On the other hand I have never used PIH. If you have transportation the best hospital to use is Phyathai in Sriracha.

[wilko]

This is another example of how the Thai medical system does not come up to scratch. But rather than do something about it the hospital blames the insurance for a failure that is in fact the hospitals......you were given a load of bullshit to cover the hospitals inadequacies..

[sattahip]

The heading should be "Pattaya International not accepted by BUPA". Dodgy billing I was told on the QT

[morejunk]

Bangkok Pattaya has also been a problem with insurance. It is further complicated by some of the people working in the International department.

There is one person who works there (Lena) that is absolutely useless. Her arrogance, laziness and unwillingness to help, just complcates the issues. Her attitude reaks of, if you don't like it, I will bite your f-cking head off. Not what we should expect from the most expensive hospital in Thailand.

[onzestan]

Bangkok Pattaya has also been a problem with insurance. It is further complicated by some of the people working in the International department.

There is one person who works there (Lena) that is absolutely useless. Her arrogance, laziness and unwillingness to help, just complcates the issues. Her attitude reaks of, if you don't like it, I will bite your f-cking head off. Not what we should expect from the most expensive hospital in Thailand.

There's another one called Monika (German). My German friends call her Monika Rottweiler.

cheers

onzestan

[Tammi]

Bangkok Pattaya has also been a problem with insurance. It is further complicated by some of the people working in the International department.

There is one person who works there (Lena) that is absolutely useless. Her arrogance, laziness and unwillingness to help, just complcates the issues. Her attitude reaks of, if you don't like it, I will bite your f-cking head off. Not what we should expect from the most expensive hospital in Thailand.

There's another one called Monika (German). My German friends call her Monika Rottweiler.

cheers

onzestan

Recently, I've found everybody in the International Dept. perfectly helpful.

[morejunk]

Tammi: I will guess you did not have contact with Lena or Monika.

[ADSW]

Having purchased some expensive insurance from BUPA, the aim was purely and simply that in the event of an emergency no matter which hospital we had to go to, the insurance would cover us and our fate not held in the hands of a bunch of accountants. Yesterday my partner had the need to be admitted to PI hospital, but were told that they do not accept BUPA any more as BUPA had not met various payments.

No biggy this time, but not what we want to hear if I had been mangled by a pick up on Sukhumvit.

The doctor went as far as to say they have problems with BUPA and some American companies.

So I post this as a warning to my fellow expats, and secondly anyone know of a reliable insurance company that provides a good medical policy!

In recent weeks I have discovered the same thing hospitals do not take Bupa as any kind of insurance to payment and will require you to pay for anything first .

Bangkok Hospital and Phuket International have both told me personally that Bupa insurance fails to pay more than they successfully pay .

I would also point out that even if they take the time to consider the claim they will require paperwork and four weeks to carry out checks when they do consider the claim . They have actually told me that "pre existing condition " could even be a heart attack as it had taken years to occur . I ask everyone how on earth can a heart attack be a pre existing condition ?

I leave you to draw your own conclusions as to the value of such insurance , like the above post who else is there ?

[rmicheald]

Having purchased some expensive insurance from BUPA, the aim was purely and simply that in the event of an emergency no matter which hospital we had to go to, the insurance would cover us and our fate not held in the hands of a bunch of accountants. Yesterday my partner had the need to be admitted to PI hospital, but were told that they do not accept BUPA any more as BUPA had not met various payments.

No biggy this time, but not what we want to hear if I had been mangled by a pick up on Sukhumvit.

The doctor went as far as to say they have problems with BUPA and some American companies.

So I post this as a warning to my fellow expats, and secondly anyone know of a reliable insurance company that provides a good medical policy!

I have BUPA through my work. I go to Pattaya International Hospital because it is cheaper without the insurance that BHP is with the insurance. All you need to do is take the receipts to the BUPA office on Suhkimvit and file a claim and they will have the money to you within a couple of weeks. Take your bank book so they can photo the account information. They they will deposit it directly into your account.

[JohnC]

I have BUPA through my work. I go to Pattaya International Hospital because it is cheaper without the insurance that BHP is with the insurance. All you need to do is take the receipts to the BUPA office on Suhkimvit and file a claim and they will have the money to you within a couple of weeks. Take your bank book so they can photo the account information. They they will deposit it directly into your account.

Thats great for small emergencies but what happens if you have a major trauma costing hundreds of thousands of baht and do not have that kind of money readily available?

I thought the idea of medical insurance was to ensure you got immediate treatment without the added worry of cost!

[cudaproject]

I have the pltinum package and never had a problem. Just hand the card over and the rest is taken care of, never had to pay up front. I did ask for that in my package.

I just checked on the list of hospitals within the Bupa network and strangely PIH is not on there. The list includes:

Bangkok Pattaya, Chonvej, Phayathai Siracaha, Pattaya Memorial, Queen Sawangwattna, Samithivej Sriracha, Laemchabung International, Eakchon and Chonburi.

So I'd advise just using the hospitals above. As a poster mentioned, it might be because Bupa view PIH as an unsuitable hospital.. who knows!

[timekeeper]

Bangkok Pattaya has also been a problem with insurance. It is further complicated by some of the people working in the International department.

There is one person who works there (Lena) that is absolutely useless. Her arrogance, laziness and unwillingness to help, just complcates the issues. Her attitude reaks of, if you don't like it, I will bite your f-cking head off. Not what we should expect from the most expensive hospital in Thailand.

then again......... i have dealt with Lena.

i have a small operation every year and have been doing so for 6 years

whilst its cost had increased by a few hundred baht year on year

this year its cost had increased by over 1500 baht

i complained to the nurse who made the estimate and referred to last years cost,she mumbled about hospital/doctor fees etc, i said it was more like the new wing needed paying for quickly, so i cancelled the operation and wandered over to the international department.

Lena was very helpful, got my files, checked into it and said she would call me later that day

she did exactly that and said that they had agreed to carry out the operation at the same price as the previous year

she has marked it on my file that the cost is fixed for the moment

i thanked her and felt she had done a good job

i see her frequently out shopping and she always smiles and says hello

so maybe she not the same with everyone........

oh P.I.C. hospital on Soi 5 is more expensive than BPH in Pattaya and both are less pricy than some BKK hospitals

Edited October 31, 2009 by timekeeper

[Langsuan Man]

If PIH had their nurses and doctors trained in the pitt bull ways like the girls in the Accounting Office it would be a good hospital

I have Blue Cross from the US and they have a local "facilitator" who could not get them to admit me without paying half of their "estimated" total via my US credit card

They eventually took Blue Cross direct billing for the final bill and the local BC representative refunded my initial credit card payment to my local bank account

Will never use them again just to save the insurance company money, my mental health is not worth dealing with the payment office

[timekeeper]

Bangkok Pattaya has also been a problem with insurance. It is further complicated by some of the people working in the International department.

There is one person who works there (Lena) that is absolutely useless. Her arrogance, laziness and unwillingness to help, just complcates the issues. Her attitude reaks of, if you don't like it, I will bite your f-cking head off. Not what we should expect from the most expensive hospital in Thailand.

There's another one called Monika (German). My German friends call her Monika Rottweiler.

cheers

onzestan

Recently, I've found everybody in the International Dept. perfectly helpful.

in my opinion after Lena, the best person in the International department at BPH is a young swedish man called Frederick

on two occasions, solely because of him i got a private audience with the senior hospital director and a senior departmental consultant and his numerous departmental heads to whom i could plead my case directly.

i have not dealt with everyone in there but i have listened to them dealing with others when i have been waiting and all seem to be proficient and helpful.

[PattayaParent]

believe it or not some hospitals grossly overcharge and insurance companies do not like to pick up the tab for such inflated costs so they only deal directly with hospitals that they feel have reasonable pricing and will not rip them off.

This is true in the West as much as in Thailand as I heard this from a representative of the association of health insurers in the US.

If you go to a hospital not on the insurers list then you can expect delays in settling the claim as they compare costs to their favoured hospitals.

[kurnell]

I dropped Bupa this year after deciding I wanted to upgrade to a proper insurance company. They responded by refuting one of my older claims based on some flimsy evidence that my condition was pre-existing. The case will go to court shortly.