Phuket hospital hits back over UK claims they put money first after tourist's motorbike accident

[wakeupplease]

I have just seen an advert on UK television by one of the big UK banks and it features an accident in Phucket by a motor cyclist (moped) who is asking people by email to send him cash as he just had a accident and is bad shape.

 

Then off the hospital trolley where he has being lying all covered in blood he rises up looks into the camera and says " I would not if I was you" and walks off.

 

Then you get the email scam roundup.

 

Funny maybe, truthful yes.

 

Even so I hope this kid get home ok soon.

[The Deerhunter]

On 5/12/2017 at 4:37 PM, impulse said:

 

With all due respect, this is a cautionary tale to all those expats from Euro socialist cultures -where the government covers health care- who are debating with themselves whether to get health care insurance or not.  That's a drop in the bucket for a significant injury or health care issue like cancer, heart attack, stroke, or whatever.

 

If you can't come out of pocket to the tune of 100,000-300,000 pounds without derailing the rest of your retirement plans, you need health care insurance.  Because the expenses are rarely a one shot deal.  You may have plenty of dosh on hand to handle the first round of treatment, but then what?

 

Americans have been fighting with health care providers and insurance companies over the high cost for all of our lives, so most of us lean toward the paranoid when it comes to health care expenses.

While I agree with you mostly, many health insurance companies will not offer health insurance at any price after 65 y.o.a. including some of the biggest, even if you have been insured with them for years.  My company is one of the few that does and they stop at 75 for accidents and 80 for health. Most of those that do offer cover at all, have age cut-offs at 80, which is a big problem for us retirees.  If you move here at 65 and then 15 years later you have no more insurance cover then you will very likely not have anything or anyone  "back home" to go to  and some countries I have been told have residency clauses even for citizens which means if you have lived overseas for 15 years they might not want you back.  More to the point, if Thai Immigration introduces a condition that requires us to have health here cover and your age limit expires, you are in deep trouble unless you are still quite rich at the at advanced age; rich enough to buy or rent back home again and to pay for any medical care back home if they do not offer you free care as a returned citizen 

[stutz]

I pity Jake and wish him a speedy recovery. In addition Jake should realize that Thailand is not the place for him.

[The Dark Lord]

On 13/05/2017 at 6:34 AM, bandito said:

 

In 1999 the Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital refused to admit me unless I put up a deposit, that while I was insured.

After phoning my Health Insurer, who did pay a deposit immediately, I got admitted.

While there I got visited every day with a request for more money at which I answered that I was insured and to contact my insurer.

After treatment was finished the hospital refused me to leave my room until full payment was made.

Thanks to the cell phone could I call my insurer who paid the bill and I could leave.

Suckers!  

Similar experience in the Khorat Bangkok hospital, as a walk in patient with severe back pain ( muscular caused by lifting car engine in my youth) I was immediately admitted following which I had visits from heart doctors, kidney specialist s and a whole raft of completely unnecessary  money making scammers. Finally after repeated requests for someone to listen to what I was saying I got a physio who made me stretch in a certain manner and bingo pain decreased by 70%. 

 

On trying to walk all out via the payment section, nearly had to call for the cardiologist again as I was presented with a THB 25,000 bill! No negotiations were entertained and suddenly nobody spoke English.

 

similar experience but much less polished scammer performance at Khorat Memorial.

 

sad especially if there was a thai in uk wanting treatment......

[Bulldozer Dawn]

22 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

 

Major holiday destination.  No public transport.  The insurance companies know they can not "prove" alcohol as a factor here, to be able to deny the claim.  The high incidents of accidents causing death and injury.  Hospitals ripping off insurance companies for treatment.

 

How long before the risk assessment section of the companies notice losses coming out of Phuket, by way of motorbike accident claims by policy holders?

 

Remember, we only read about the dead, and those who can not pay. 

 

What about the hundreds, if not thousands, that are injured here, and submit a claim????

 

How long do you expect the travel insurance companies to bleed profits out of Phuket's lack of public transport for????

No they will still offer coverage (they don't want to lose their income stream), but they will just determine that it is reckless to be on a bike in Phuket in the instance that someone has an accident.

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, The Dark Lord said:

Similar experience in the Khorat Bangkok hospital, as a walk in patient with severe back pain ( muscular caused by lifting car engine in my youth) I was immediately admitted following which I had visits from heart doctors, kidney specialist s and a whole raft of completely unnecessary  money making scammers. Finally after repeated requests for someone to listen to what I was saying I got a physio who made me stretch in a certain manner and bingo pain decreased by 70%. 

 

On trying to walk all out via the payment section, nearly had to call for the cardiologist again as I was presented with a THB 25,000 bill! No negotiations were entertained and suddenly nobody spoke English.

 

similar experience but much less polished scammer performance at Khorat Memorial.

 

sad especially if there was a thai in uk wanting treatment......

 

Simlar experience at Phuket Bangkok. Took a friend there who had an eye infection. I suggested going to a small eye clinic I used, but no he wanted the Bangkok Phuket. While he was waiting for the eye doctor they suggested he had a full medical where they declared he had a heart problem  (which he knew about). I can tell you the follow up treatment cost his insurance company (BUPA International) quite a few hundreds of thousand baht. Money making racket ...

[Bulldozer Dawn]

2 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Simlar experience at Phuket Bangkok. Took a friend there who had an eye infection. I suggested going to a small eye clinic I used, but no he wanted the Bangkok Phuket. While he was waiting for the eye doctor they suggested he had a full medical where they declared he had a heart problem  (which he knew about). I can tell you the follow up treatment cost his insurance company (BUPA International) quite a few hundreds of thousand baht. Money making racket ...

I recently had a procedure done at the International Hospital.  Some two years prior I had exactly the same procedure done at Bangkok.  I was bracing myself for the bill at International.  Turns out it was exactly half of the bill I received from Bangkok.  Nice service and interior as well.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/12/2017 at 11:15 PM, Psimbo said:

Yep, because they really care about people before profit don't they!

I'm assuming it is a private hospital, so yes, it is about profit. Private hospitals are a business, not charities. If one wants charity, go to the local Wat.

[Shiver]

I was in Phuket and I knew something wasn't right with me (turned out to be liver).  Went to BKK Int'l in Phuket and got a 16,000 bill, which I thought was steep for a blood test and ultrasound.

 

Months later in Bangkok a friend I hadn't seen in years commented on how ill and older I looked and practically demanded that I go to Bumrungrad there and then.  They did the same tests, then come back next day where they took some ultrasound photos and gave me a bill for nearly 60,000 (about 2 1/2 hours of their time in total).  Those nice people did give me a bottle of Centrum multivitamins though, and some milk thistle and told me to come back in 6 weeks.

 

I got back home (Udon) and after a couple of days getting over being told I had a year to live at the current rate, I went to a local clinic, ultrasound ...again...told it's the liver...again, and gave me some more appropriate medication (especially potassium sparing diuretics to deal with the Ascites).  Total cost 2200 baht.

 

I still go there once a month, he prescribes me Cialis and Dianabol Lol.  Says my liver is near perfect.  He was scanning me once and said "I can see you've given up drinking".  I said "no" (I'm not going to lie to someone who is trying to help me, that would be wasting time for both of us).  He looked away from the ultrasound screen and at me and said "Wow.  I mean...Wow.  You repair quickly".  I reminded him that I maintained it wasn't an alcohol issue (yeah but all alcoholics say that).  Yeah but so do non alcoholics.  Btw I didn't get any parasite tests Hep B, C tests or anything else.  Had to procure those myself.

 

I cured myself of Cirrhosis (yeah I know, that's impossible, but pictures were taken remember?) that was approaching end stage with Traditional Chinese Medicine, cost a few hundred dollars.  I still don't trust doctors and that just reinforced it for me.  ER or broken leg sure, but as my drug supplier...be vigilant.

[stevenl]

On 5/15/2017 at 9:03 PM, LivinginKata said:

 

Simlar experience at Phuket Bangkok. Took a friend there who had an eye infection. I suggested going to a small eye clinic I used, but no he wanted the Bangkok Phuket. While he was waiting for the eye doctor they suggested he had a full medical where they declared he had a heart problem  (which he knew about). I can tell you the follow up treatment cost his insurance company (BUPA International) quite a few hundreds of thousand baht. Money making racket ...

So he has a heart problem and was treated for that.

 

Where is the racket?

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

So he has a heart problem and was treated for that.

 

Where is the racket?

 

He already knew he had a heart problem. The racket was the BP are always trying to drum up business.  As he had BUPA International insurance he went with the flow.

 

Some long time later my friend had a pacemake installed at BP and on a check-up they claimed that the electrical installion was not correct and they wanted more money  to fix their mistake. The surgeon flies down from BKK to do these operations and offered him a 50,000 baht reduction on the correction surgery if my friend went up to BKK to his clinic. He flew back to the UK where the NHS said all was Ok.

 

Strange thing is that another guy I know had a pacemaker fitted at BP last year and it was deemed to be incorrectly fitted  and he would have to pay for corrective surgery. He had no insurance, I told him to get a second opinion as he felt fine. He never took the corrective surgery and now over a year later he still feels fine with plenty of energy.

 

You have to wonder about scam or racket .... ??

[Sheryl]

On 5/12/2017 at 1:29 PM, scorecard said:

 

Quote:  "...the first 72 hours is supposed to be free anywhere..."

 

From my understand it's not that simple.

 

My understanding is that If the nearest hospital to an accident (or any medical emergency) is an expensive one then that hospital is required to give free treatment for three days if the patients condition is life threatening. 

 

If the patients injuries are superficial and non life threatening the hospital is within it's rights to tell the patient they should go to another hospital .

 

First of all, it is not free, it is free of charge to the patient at time of service. Hospitals are  reimbursed for it (though at a rate lower than a private hospital would normally charge) by the relevant health cover scheme (see below)

 

This applies solely to people covered under one of the 3 schemes that form universal coverage in Thailand - the "universal" (AKA 30 baht or gold card scheme), Thai Social Security or the Thai Civil Service Social Security. Most foreigners are not under any of these plans and the policy therefor does not apply to them. Exceptions would be foreigners married to a Thai civil servant and foreigners working legally with a work permit and paying into Social Security, provided:

 

It applies solely to life-saving emergency care in patients who cannot be safely moved. Wherever possible without risk to life, the patient is expected to go to the hospital where they are registered under the applicable scheme (all of these schemes being based on receiving care at one specified hospital unless that hospital finds it necessary to refer you elsewhere).

[kwilco]

On 5/16/2017 at 5:00 PM, Shiver said:

I was in Phuket and I knew something wasn't right with me (turned out to be liver).  Went to BKK Int'l in Phuket and got a 16,000 bill, which I thought was steep for a blood test and ultrasound.

 

Months later in Bangkok a friend I hadn't seen in years commented on how ill and older I looked and practically demanded that I go to Bumrungrad there and then.  They did the same tests, then come back next day where they took some ultrasound photos and gave me a bill for nearly 60,000 (about 2 1/2 hours of their time in total).  Those nice people did give me a bottle of Centrum multivitamins though, and some milk thistle and told me to come back in 6 weeks.

 

I got back home (Udon) and after a couple of days getting over being told I had a year to live at the current rate, I went to a local clinic, ultrasound ...again...told it's the liver...again, and gave me some more appropriate medication (especially potassium sparing diuretics to deal with the Ascites).  Total cost 2200 baht.

 

I still go there once a month, he prescribes me Cialis and Dianabol Lol.  Says my liver is near perfect.  He was scanning me once and said "I can see you've given up drinking".  I said "no" (I'm not going to lie to someone who is trying to help me, that would be wasting time for both of us).  He looked away from the ultrasound screen and at me and said "Wow.  I mean...Wow.  You repair quickly".  I reminded him that I maintained it wasn't an alcohol issue (yeah but all alcoholics say that).  Yeah but so do non alcoholics.  Btw I didn't get any parasite tests Hep B, C tests or anything else.  Had to procure those myself.

 

I cured myself of Cirrhosis (yeah I know, that's impossible, but pictures were taken remember?) that was approaching end stage with Traditional Chinese Medicine, cost a few hundred dollars.  I still don't trust doctors and that just reinforced it for me.  ER or broken leg sure, but as my drug supplier...be vigilant.

"I cured myself of Cirrhosis (yeah I know, that's impossible, but pictures were taken remember?) that was approaching end stage with Traditional Chinese Medicine, cost a few hundred dollars."

No you didn't

[GuiseppeD]

On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 3:47 PM, soalbundy said:

I thought that travel insurance doesn't cover motorbikes anyway.

 

You thought wrong.  Sorry.  Depends on the policy.

 

Cheap and cheerful then almost certainly not.  Comprehensive [expensive] then you're getting there.  Just make darn sure you read the small print.

[GuiseppeD]

On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 5:59 PM, janpharma said:

I told them to use my credit card but they refused, they wanted "cash now"...terrible experience but finally my insurance covered everything and I took the advanced deposit back..."Thainess"...

Thainess?  More like business, and quite right.

 

 

 

[GuiseppeD]

On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 8:15 PM, stevenl said:

Was he wearing a helmet and was the driver riding with valid motorbike DL? If 'no' to one or both of those questions, that is a valid reason not to pay.

My Bupa policy states that the driver has to have a valid license and insurance and the passengers wearing skidlids.

[oldlakey]

1 hour ago, GuiseppeD said:

My Bupa policy states that the driver has to have a valid license and insurance and the passengers wearing skidlids.

As would any policy worth its salt

[wakeupplease]

On 12/05/2017 at 10:49 PM, diehard60 said:

just because it is normal here does that make it good practice? just saying.

Nothing is normal here except corruption and liars

[cat handler]

On 12/05/2017 at 11:21 AM, darksidedog said:

I agree with you about the mother, and you are correct, the first 72 hours is supposed to be free anywhere.

Two accidents in 3 weeks is very bad luck, though this one can't be blamed on him, regardless of how the first one happened.

My point however was that a bike is the sole means of transport for a vast number of the population. Whether a local or a tourist. this is how people get around here.

The travel insurance was for a trip to Thailand and the insurance company must have been aware of this.

The situation in the UK is obviously very different and most people have  a car.

Where I live, I can find a motor bike taxi easy enough, but an actual taxi is not likely. And I like many others try not to use the taxis anyway, as I don't like bad manners, bad driving and being overcharged.

 

So instead of facing bad manners you prefer to face broken limbs and head trauma? Just because locals do it doesn't make it right or smart, I can see why they wouldn't pay up, in the PDS it clearly states your not covered from risky behaviour and 2 motorcycle accidents in a week is an indication of risky behaviour. Having seen motorbike taxis at their ranks drinking Singha I don't catch them.