Do you have a Health Insurance?

[parrot]

My wife and I are covered under the military medical program. If someone were considering moving here without some sort of insurance......or hefty savings set aside specifically for medical coverage, my advice would be......don't come

[choi choi]

Too late now.I am settled in .If I get anything serious, I will just live it out.
I'm on a countdown anyway.Had my fun and now as good as it gets

[choi choi]

YES! WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Better just save your money

All well and good! But Now it is a requirement! I plan visit UK in a few months,
I was Under the impression,having a retire "O" visa health insurance not mandatary.
Now i'm told it is still required! and they will check at passport control?
I am concerned I will be unable to return to Thailand
I would be grateful if Someone could verify I need it or not!

[jackspratt]

All well and good! But Now it is a requirement! I plan visit UK in a few months,
I was Under the impression,having a retire "O" visa health insurance not mandatary.
Now i'm told it is still required! and they will check at passport control?

Who told you this, and exactly what did they tell you?

[DuiDui49]

-Yes i have with Thai Bacan..my spelling;-)

I have used them twice,both time accidents was caused by Thais,sorry to say.But the company treated me without any delay or questions,they just paid up.Kudos to them.

//Alfie..

[tamada]

YES! WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Better just save your money

All well and good! But Now it is a requirement! I plan visit UK in a few months,
I was Under the impression,having a retire "O" visa health insurance not mandatary.
Now i'm told it is still required! and they will check at passport control?
I am concerned I will be unable to return to Thailand
I would be grateful if Someone could verify I need it or not!

If you are currently in Thailand on a retirement extension and you plan on returning on a re-entry permit issued against that extension, you only need the Covid-specific insurance. Most people appear to manage with the minimum 30-day proof of insurance regardless of how many days their extension has to run.

If you are not leaving for a few months, wait until closer to your travel date to see what they need. It's unlikely to go up or get harder unless a nasty new variant hits the world.

[choi choi]

YES! WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Better just save your money

All well and good! But Now it is a requirement! I plan visit UK in a few months,
I was Under the impression,having a retire "O" visa health insurance not mandatary.
Now i'm told it is still required! and they will check at passport control?
I am concerned I will be unable to return to Thailand
I would be grateful if Someone could verify I need it or not!

If you are currently in Thailand on a retirement extension and you plan on returning on a re-entry permit issued against that extension, you only need the Covid-specific insurance. Most people appear to manage with the minimum 30-day proof of insurance regardless of how many days their extension has to run.

If you are not leaving for a few months, wait until closer to your travel date to see what they need. It's unlikely to go up or get harder unless a nasty new variant hits the world.

Thank you so much!... So no need proof of Health Insurance for Thai pass!

[sometimewoodworker]

YES! WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Better just save your money

All well and good! But Now it is a requirement! I plan visit UK in a few months,
I was Under the impression,having a retire "O" visa health insurance not mandatary.
Now i'm told it is still required! and they will check at passport control?
I am concerned I will be unable to return to Thailand
I would be grateful if Someone could verify I need it or not!

If you are currently in Thailand on a retirement extension and you plan on returning on a re-entry permit issued against that extension, you only need the Covid-specific insurance. Most people appear to manage with the minimum 30-day proof of insurance regardless of how many days their extension has to run.

If you are not leaving for a few months, wait until closer to your travel date to see what they need. It's unlikely to go up or get harder unless a nasty new variant hits the world.

Thank you so much!... So no need proof of Health Insurance for Thai pass!

Currently, for May, you must have a 30 day $10,000 COVID-19 insurance for the Thai Pass
If fully vaccinated apart from providing proof of vaccination that is all you need.

If unvaccinated there are other requirements.

It is likely that the COVID-19 insurance and quite possibly the Thai Pass will be discontinued. There is talk that another change is on the cards for June.

Do not expect information more than about 7 days before a change

[tamada]

^ There is a possibility that proof of basic health insurance will prevail despite the roll back of other Covid-related entry requirements. Whether they restrict this to TR (tourist visa) applications or apply a wider brush is up for conjecture.

Before Covid, the authorities were already making much of unfunded and uninsured foreigners having mishaps and draining local medical resources. Since they are aware that there's a sizeable enclave of older, underfunded or uninsured foreigners with long-stay non-immigrant entitlements, it isn't too much of a stretch to assume that ALL foreigners may eventually need to provide proof that someone will take care of their hospital bills.

[rick]

The first 2 years i was here i relied on long stay travel insurance, was not to expensive. I then considered health insurance, but at over £200 a month that was over 20% of my income at the time. Over the last 10 years i have spent about 30,000 baht total on health care, mainly dentistry before this year. So no health insurance has been a good choice until now.
However, now i am 70 and do have some health issues - but costs are minor at present. Due to age and pre-existing conditions, Insurance will be either too expensive or incomplete. Have enough in the bank for probably one emergency, after that it is either time to check out or return to UK - neither option really appeals to me!

[papafarang]

A friend recently returned to the UK, his insurance was just slowly draining his savings . due to having to stick with his old British insurers ,age, health issues. But he was forking out 400,000 a year. His state pension used to cover it but it was frozen 10 years back. The huge drop in the value of the pound didn't help either. I asked him if he would return for holidays , but he would not even be able to get insurance again . not one that would cover his pre conditions. But it shows that getting old here is going to get harder. Now we have inflation to worry about now.

[glalt]

I had health insurance here in Thailand for many years. Every year the premium would go up. At age 65, the premium went over the top and I cancelled the policy. My nest egg could pay more than the policy limit so cancelling the policy was a no brainer for me. I'm fortunate that my pensions have a healthy surplus every month. I don't touch my nest egg because it is specifically for emergency medical expenses that I hope to never have.

[sometimewoodworker]

A friend recently returned to the UK, his insurance was just slowly draining his savings . due to having to stick with his old British insurers ,age, health issues. But he was forking out 400,000 a year. His state pension used to cover it but it was frozen 10 years back. The huge drop in the value of the pound didn't help either. I asked him if he would return for holidays , but he would not even be able to get insurance again . not one that would cover his pre conditions. But it shows that getting old here is going to get harder. Now we have inflation to worry about now.

Assuming that was Baht a premium of £9,000 pounds is excessive my insurance is £1,100

[tamada]

A friend recently returned to the UK, his insurance was just slowly draining his savings . due to having to stick with his old British insurers ,age, health issues. But he was forking out 400,000 a year. His state pension used to cover it but it was frozen 10 years back. The huge drop in the value of the pound didn't help either. I asked him if he would return for holidays , but he would not even be able to get insurance again . not one that would cover his pre conditions. But it shows that getting old here is going to get harder. Now we have inflation to worry about now.

Assuming that was Baht a premium of £9,000 pounds is excessive my insurance is £1,100

Mine is a tad under £1900/annum.

It also depends on your insurance history. The earlier you start (longer history of insurance) and the fewer claims you make, premiums typically remain proportionate and acceptable. Insurance without a pre-screening medical pretty much disappears around the 65 age mark. People tend to shop around for the best deal for car insurance and it can pay to do the same with health insurance. Sometimes the benefits from your long-standing insurance provider aren't cost effective compared with some newer offering.

A key part is taking care of your health and reducing the risky behaviour as one gets older. If you generally eat unhealthy stuff, smoke, don't moderate or eliminate your alcohol intake and have no exercise regimen, then eventually some part of your body will fail you. An unexpected diabetes diagnosis while pursuing some other ailment is probably the first alarm for many. Hence the emphasis in another thread on getting an annual health check and blood workup. This should also take the drama out of any medical examination that an insurance company may require, be it for continuing coverage or a new policy.

[papafarang]

A friend recently returned to the UK, his insurance was just slowly draining his savings . due to having to stick with his old British insurers ,age, health issues. But he was forking out 400,000 a year. His state pension used to cover it but it was frozen 10 years back. The huge drop in the value of the pound didn't help either. I asked him if he would return for holidays , but he would not even be able to get insurance again . not one that would cover his pre conditions. But it shows that getting old here is going to get harder. Now we have inflation to worry about now.

Assuming that was Baht a premium of £9,000 pounds is excessive my insurance is £1,100

75 year old with multiple stents, apart from his heart the rest of him was a spritly 60 year old. He found absolutely no one else would even offer insurance . even if he wanted to come for a couple of weeks holiday he'd have to buy travel insurance and make sure he has a million baht spare at hand to cover himself, sad . All the correct planning , but god laughs at your plans.

[Bandung_Dero]

Never had private health insurance and up until 3 years ago been very lucky when it comes to health and accidents. 100K Baht for the BKK Hospital CCU admission and 150K for an operation and week in a private room, ward 5, after a fall.
I'm now approaching the later stages of life very comfortable in knowing that I'm miles in front and happy to have been self insured!

[papafarang]

Never had private health insurance and up until 3 years ago been very lucky when it comes to health and accidents. 100K Baht for the BKK Hospital CCU admission and 150K for an operation and week in a private room, ward 5, after a fall.
I'm now approaching the later stages of life very comfortable in knowing that I'm miles in front and happy to have been self insured!

Ah lucky , we like to hear that , but wait until your next few premiums go up . You won't get any younger and costs will grow exponentially. They chap I'm talking about said without his insurance he would have spent 8-10 mil in the last 10 years. If you don't mind those costs then your a very lucky man. So anyway went to the army hospital today , see the doc , pile of meds and just 272b . But got to go back Monday, seems at my age I will have to have my tonsils out, then a biopsy on them to see if clear. Kind of like the attitude of just cut it out and find out afterwards. Beats the system of let's do lots of expensive tests then remove them.

[Bandung_Dero]

A guy you know went into the Military hospital a few years ago and was diagnosed with chronic diabetes = had to have a circumcision! Dunno how that compares with tonsils and but both must be very uncomfortable at our ages.
I had both the "compulsory" operations at a very young age as deemed by the Australian witch doctors at the time!

[joepai]

Yep same as UK, tonsils and adenoids, had my whipped out when young – mind the ice-cream after made it worthwhile

A guy you know went into the Military hospital a few years ago and was diagnosed with chronic diabetes = had to have a circumcision! Dunno how that compares with tonsils and but both must be very uncomfortable at our ages.
I had both the "compulsory" operations at a very young age as deemed by the Australian witch doctors at the time!

Yep same as UK, tonsils and adenoids, had my whipped out when young – mind the ice-cream after made it worthwhile

[Potamoi]

Once I was out of a proper company insurance plan in 2016, I went to Bupa here as their montra was that if you start before 60, they will never terminate for age.

Since then Bupa Thailand was purchased by Aetna Thailand. They have been exceptional for every claim so far including back surgery fully paid and with a luxury suite at Bangkok Hospital and all the outpatient stuff before and after. Yes, it is a bit spendy at my current age (~160,000 per year for platinum coverage) but I felt that even though I have rarely ever used any of my insurance in the last 40 odd years I thought perhaps it was time to make sure I am covered now as I get older.

Aetna does give a percentage rebate every year if unused which is a pretty good gimmick.