Healthcare Insurance in Thailand

[ChiFlyer]

Maybe I could have picked a better forum for this topic. There is a popular current thread on the new long term visa rules, but the topic of healthcare insurance is a little broader than that and gets a little off topic with regard to visa rule discussions.

I am an American. I will spend 9 months in Thailand in 2019 and probably more in 2020. Next I repeat my post from the other thread.

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I have a strong aversion to the word compulsory, but healthcare insurance coverage is something I have been wondering about. I am an American and we do not have as good of coverage as some other countries. I will spend 9 months of 2019 in Thailand and will likely up that number in 2020.

I am impressed with the healthcare options in Thailand. The have some very good medical facilities Pattaya-Bangkok Hospital seems good. I once went to Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok (about 15 years ago) and was wow'd by the service level and relatively low costs. I had an eye infection. I was prepared to spend an entire day in a 3rd world hospital. I was out of there in 1 hour with meds that worked very well. The cost was about $100 USD. I would have easily paid triple that in the US and would probably still be filling out forms.

My other understanding is that on more serious matters (heart attack, stroke, and other very unpleasant things) this cost advantage goes away and emergency catastrophic healthcare in Thailand can be as expensive as in the US. I currently have US Medicare Advantage coverage thru a major US Insurance company. It is not that great, but does cover me well on the high end of problems. I pay the Social Security Medicare deductible ($135 a month) plus an additional $79 a month to the Insurance Company.

My US Medicare based insurance does not cover me outside the US. I recently inquired to Cigna about healthcare insurance in Thailand and they quoted me just short of $400 US a month. That insurance is only good within Thailand. Sounds like robbery to me. I am wondering what others do about this.

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Garzan contributed some good info in the other thread. Here is a replication of that that.

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Perhaps not wandering too far off topic with the compulary health insurance talk for 10 year visas. I don't think it would bother me if it were just a compulsary level of insurance from whatever company you wanted. 

I still have a dependant daughter from a previous marriage in the US, so I still have a court ordered requirement to provide for her health insurance in the US. My insurance is Blue Cross / Blue Shield, and through unfortunate circumstances, I have already tested both its inpatient and outpatient payment for healthcare services in Thailand. It has been excellent, particularly with the inpatient care, since that got direct billed back to BC/BS. Outpatient takes a little longer since I have to pay first, submit a web claim, and wait for reimbursement to be direct deposited back to my bank account. 

Perhaps it's easier paying for healthcare as an American. We have F.A. for universal healthcare, so we're used to paying for any sort of heathcare coverage we might have (or do without when we can't afford any). If anything like National Healthcare Coverage* existed in the US, I could see being a bit more annoyed having to pay for coverage over here. 

*not counting Medicare for seniors, which Congress seems hellbent on taking it away from seniors. 

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[forcebwithu]

Several topics already on health insurance recommendations.

https://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/search/?q="health insurance"&search_in=titles

https://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/search/?q="medical insurance"&search_in=titles