# Medical Insurance



## buzzah (Jan 12, 2016)

Hi - we are moving to Thailand later this year and I wondered what the general consensus is on having medical insurance. I was thinking of getting some international medical insurance just for major issues as I know the doctors and dentists are pretty reasonable for day to day problems. Are there any Thai medical insurers that are worth using or what do most expats do re health insurance/cover?


----------



## neilr (Dec 11, 2013)

buzzah said:


> Hi - we are moving to Thailand later this year and I wondered what the general consensus is on having medical insurance. I was thinking of getting some international medical insurance just for major issues as I know the doctors and dentists are pretty reasonable for day to day problems. Are there any Thai medical insurers that are worth using or what do most expats do re health insurance/cover?


This was something I had a tentative look in to last year and found the following.....

It is incredibly difficult to find Thai health insurance that is not loaded with a Life Assurance policy. Indeed most of the payment is to the LI and not the HI. I would suggest looking at something in your own country if you want HI only.

It may be possible to get a health insurance policy here but I have not found it so far.

I might be lucky in as much as I have never suffered with any health problems though that could change any time. If I need something major I would look at returning to the UK (providing I am mobile enough to do so) so the cost is covered by the National Insurance I paid there before moving to Thailand.


----------



## buzzah (Jan 12, 2016)

neilr said:


> This was something I had a tentative look in to last year and found the following.....
> 
> It is incredibly difficult to find Thai health insurance that is not loaded with a Life Assurance policy. Indeed most of the payment is to the LI and not the HI. I would suggest looking at something in your own country if you want HI only.
> 
> ...


Interesting! Thanks for that.


----------



## karstenaichholz (Jan 28, 2016)

Plenty of options here for non-life-insurance linked health insurance. I wrote a pretty in-depth guide on getting medical insurance coverage in Thailand (including social security, local insurance plans, offshore insurance plans). Can post a link if you're interested.

In short - you'll pay anywhere from roughly 300 USD (basic coverage) to $2000 (full coverage for everything with no co-pay) as a guy in your mid thirties. The older, the more expensive.


----------



## neilr (Dec 11, 2013)

karstenaichholz said:


> Plenty of options here for non-life-insurance linked health insurance. I wrote a pretty in-depth guide on getting medical insurance coverage in Thailand (including social security, local insurance plans, offshore insurance plans). *Can post a link if you're interested.*


Please do. I stand to be corrected but have no problem with that, just have not found any to date.
I do not doubt the accuracy of your statement but I am going to guess that the options in BKK are different to what is on offer up here.


----------



## karstenaichholz (Jan 28, 2016)

neilr said:


> Please do. I stand to be corrected but have no problem with that, just have not found any to date.
> I do not doubt the accuracy of your statement but I am going to guess that the options in BKK are different to what is on offer up here.


Here's the requested link:
https://www.karstenaichholz.com/health/thailand-health-insurance/

In general, the private health insurance options are the same throughout the country. Though to be honest, if you're not in Bangkok, your priorities are a bit different: You might want to have medical evacuation, which is a waste of money in Bangkok (insurance companies won't evac you out of Bangkok). Government insurance might be less useful since upcountry government hospitals might not be up to standard of what you might be looking for. On the other hand, private hospitals that are part of the Bangkok Hospitals group are probably significantly cheaper than the counterparts in Bangkok, so your need for coverage limits might not be as high.

I would recommend to contact some local brokers and see what they can offer (some are listed at the above link). I actually got my health insurance from a brokerage firm that's located in Pattaya, even though I'm living in Bangkok. Since I only deal with them by e-mail, it hasn't really made a difference.


----------



## neilr (Dec 11, 2013)

karstenaichholz said:


> Here's the requested link:
> https://www.karstenaichholz.com/health/thailand-health-insurance/
> 
> In general, the private health insurance options are the same throughout the country. Though to be honest, if you're not in Bangkok, your priorities are a bit different: You might want to have medical evacuation, which is a waste of money in Bangkok (insurance companies won't evac you out of Bangkok). Government insurance might be less useful since upcountry government hospitals might not be up to standard of what you might be looking for. On the other hand, private hospitals that are part of the Bangkok Hospitals group are probably significantly cheaper than the counterparts in Bangkok, so your need for coverage limits might not be as high.
> ...


Thank you for the information. I will add this link to my website if you don't mind.


----------



## karstenaichholz (Jan 28, 2016)

neilr said:


> Thank you for the information. I will add this link to my website if you don't mind.


Sure, please go ahead. <Snip>


----------

