Ultimate Guide to Expat Insurance in Thailand

You’re considering expat insurance in Thailand. You’ve decided it may be a wise choice and you’re curious about your options, especially considering the range of insurers out there. Whether you’re a newcomer to Thailand and looking to get insured, or have been living in Thailand for a decade and owned a policy the entire time, there may be some aspects of the insurance system that you’re unaware of.

Plain and simple, the policy you choose today, or in the coming months, could have a major impact on your life ten years from now. For example, if you choose a plan without a lifetime renewal guarantee, your provider could drop your policy and you may lose the ability to get coverage from any provider in the insurance market—anywhere in Thailand. However, if you choose the right policy, you can get outstanding coverage, equivalent to the best medical coverage in your home country.

To help you navigate this minefield, we’ve created this guide to walk you through everything you need to know about choosing the right expat insurance in Thailand—from understanding the pros and cons of different plans, to the questions you should ask about international coverage. Shall we begin?

Types of Expat Insurance in Thailand

Personal vs Employee Health Insurance in Thailand

What coverage is best for you?

There are two typical ways you can obtain coverage: through a personal policy or a policy through your employer. As you’ll soon see, there are pros and cons to both options, which vary depending on your personal circumstances. Let’s compare the different types of expat insurance in Thailand…

Expat Insurance in Thailand: The Good and Bad

Just like in your home country, if you choose to purchase private health insurance in Thailand, you gain one major benefit: you have full control of what type of coverage you receive. However, that’s not the only advantage of personal health insurance. If you obtain your own policy, you never have to worry about losing coverage because you leave your job. What’s more, you’ll have the choice to add a lifetime renewal guarantee, which ensures you can always renew your policy.

 

How does a lifetime renewal guarantee protect you? In Thailand, many medical insurance policies have the right to refuse to renew your policy or exclude conditions that developed while you were under their coverage. For example, if you are diagnosed with cancer, some insurance policies may drop your cover for the disease when your policy renews. With a lifetime renewal guarantee, such as the one offered with many LUMA plans, you’ll never have to worry about losing your coverage for any illness.

 

What about the disadvantages of private health insurance for expats? The only downside is that you have to pay for it out of your own pocket.

Pros of Expat Insurance:

• No risk of losing coverage – when leaving a job, you’ll have peace of mind that critical illnesses and accidents will continue to be covered if something happens to you. If during your employment you contract a new medical condition or have an accident, this will be considered as a ‘pre-existing condition’ once you leave your job and re-apply for insurance. If you contract something serious, then it is probably not even possible to get another insurance policy at all as insurance companies won’t accept people with certain conditions (for example, cancer).
• Choice of renewability – you have the choice of choosing plans that guarantee renewability up to a certain age, or even lifetime renewability. However, many personal insurance plans by some companies do not offer renewability, so it’s advised to inquire carefully to ensure your policy can be renewed.
• Customisation of your plan – you pick the right coverage to match your needs and/or your family’s needs, maybe you wish to add maternity care or dental. The coverage offered by employers can sometimes be inadequate for your unique circumstances. Choosing your own plan will help ensure that you are fully protected where & how you need to be.

Cons of Expat Insurance:

• Time spent researching options – you need to do your own detailed research to find the right coverage for your needs.
• More paperwork – you’ll have to fill out the application forms for your plan.
• Cost – you pay for a private plan out of your own pocket.

Employee Health Insurance in Thailand: the Good and Bad

If you’ve ever had group health insurance covered by an employer, you know there are some obvious advantages and disadvantages. A big plus is that the company pays for the policy. On the negative side, an employee does not typically have the option to customise the policy according to his or her individual needs. And if you leave your job, you’ll lose the coverage. If you are legally working in Thailand you will be eligible to receive health benefits from the Social Security System, however, if you wish to access internationally acclaimed hospital care and doctors you will need high coverage private plan.

What about the not-so-obvious advantages to employee health insurance in Thailand? If the company you work for is large enough, you may be covered for pre-existing conditions. This is a major benefit to those who have chronic diseases or health problems.

It’s also worth noting that outpatient care (OPD) is typically included in your policy as part of your employee benefits. This, however, can be both a pro and con. If you buy a personal policy out of your own pocket, adding OPD coverage can double your monthly premium. So while it is true that business health insurance offered by your employer can save you money on outpatient care, the levels of OPD (and inpatient care (IPD) as well) are typically so low that it may not be much of a benefit. Will it be enough to cover your insurance needs? It depends on your health, age and the level of cover you’re comfortable with.

Pros:

• Paid by the employer – your company covers part or all of your premium.
• Pre-existing condition cover – depending on the size of your company and policy, you may be covered for your pre-existing conditions.
• Often adequate for routine healthcare – such as outpatient visits for seasonal flus; and some policies may even offer dental care.

Cons:

• Potential loss of coverage – you may not be able to get another private insurance policy when you leave if you contract a serious condition during your employment – as this condition will be considered a ‘pre-existing condition’, which if severe enough will be rejected by most companies.
• Development of new pre-existing conditions – conditions developed during your employment, even minor ones, will be considered ‘pre-existing’ so they can be excluded from coverage when you apply for another insurance policy.
• Non-customisable for individual needs – the coverage may not be adequate for the needs of you and your family. You need to consider if the limits are high enough to cover hospitalizations, medical emergencies, accidents and other serious illnesses. You need to also consider whether the coverage will be available at the locations where you want to have treatment. For example, if you’re an expat and want to have treatment in your home country. Or if you’re Thai, you may have a preference for medical treatments abroad, such as in Singapore. You may also wish to cover your family and children on your health insurance plan and employee benefit may not extend to this.

 

 

Why Obtain Both Private and Employee Coverage?

“The bottom line is, you need to ensure you or your family are covered against critical illnesses and accidents in the long term. What you should get will depend on your personal circumstances.“

 

For example, say you’re a short term expat residing in Thailand. You have access to a benefit package provided by your employer and a good healthcare system in your home country that fully covers you. In this case, your company plan may be enough (provided you are ok with the levels of coverage).

However, if you’re planning to be a long term resident of Thailand, you should plan for the long run to ensure you’re fully covered regardless of your employment status. In this case, it will be worthwhile to send in applications and purchase a second insurance policy that complements the plan you have with your company. Many companies will already offer adequate outpatient care coverage, so sometimes the only thing you’ll need to look for are essential plans, which are designed to cover the less frequent, more serious and more expensive illnesses/accidents.

Many expats will obtain private health insurance in addition to the cover offered by their employer. Doing so provides you with all the advantages of both types of policies, with the only downside being the additional cost.

Plan Coverage Options for Expat Insurance in Thailand

Here we will explore the most common health coverage plan options selected by expatriates in Thailand and a comparison of what to look for in each plan option.

Health insurance plans favoured by expats generally fall into the following categories:

• Plans with inpatient cover only
• Plans with inpatient and outpatient cover
• Plans with inpatient and outpatient cover + other benefits such as dental care, vision care, maternity and health checkups

Essential Health Insurance Plans

Plans that include only inpatient cover are often referred to as an essential or a basic health insurance plan.  These plans typically only cover expenses when you are hospitalized overnight or during the day (also known as daycare).

Inpatient cover is often labelled as ‘essential’ for good reason as any event requiring inpatient treatment will often be a cause of trauma and can potentially be very costly.  You need to ensure you have good coverage to ensure you have access to the treatment you need at the facility you are comfortable with.

Coverage of inpatient only, or essential plans, will typically include hospital expenses such as:

• Cost of the room (as well as nursing charges & food)
• Diagnostic tests (e.g. MRI, PET scans)
• Doctor’s fee and medications
• Cost of surgeries and cost of operating room

Here are a few scenarios where you may be hospitalized, either overnight or as a daycare patient:

• Major accidents requiring long stays in an intensive care unit
• Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy
• Gastrointestinal issues as a result of food poisoning
• Sports injuries requiring MRI investigations

To ensure you have a good inpatient cover, ensure limits of the plan’s coverage are sufficient for:

• Serious illnesses (e.g. cancers)
• Major accidents
• Medical facilities in your area or medical facilities you are comfortable with

Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans

Some people will want to be covered for all health risks – not just major ones.  Because of this, some expats prefer to have plans with both inpatient and outpatient cover.  Outpatient refers to medical services not requiring a stay overnight in a hospital or as a daycare.  Plans with both in- and out-patient cover are often labelled as comprehensive options.  

In addition to cover for inpatient medical expenses, comprehensive packages will typically cover hospital expenses such as:

• Consultation & doctor’s fees
• Diagnostic tests
• Prescribed medications

 

Here are a few scenarios where you may need outpatient care:

 

• Seasonal health risks
• Chronic conditions requiring long term treatment with regular supervision
• Minor surgeries like cryotherapy, electrocautery, and curettage among others.

 

Outpatient care in Thailand is generally affordable and buying a comprehensive package will cost more than an essential package. Nevertheless, it may be worthwhile to purchase such a plan as it would be typically difficult to upgrade from an essential to a comprehensive plan with outpatient cover once you develop a new medical condition, especially a chronic condition requiring long term supervision and support. This is because health insurance companies will typically consider these problems as ‘pre-existing conditions’ and will exclude them from your policy; even if you have been with the same company.

 

Comprehensive insurance plans with other benefits

Many medical insurance companies will offer comprehensive expat care plus other benefits which may not necessarily be related to health risks, instead more akin to prevention, health screening and other medical services that are taken by the member’s own choosing (e.g. pregnancy).

These additional benefits may include (and the list could go on):

• Dental care
• Maternity care
• Vision care
• Health checkups
• Alternative medicine (e.g. acupuncture)

These benefits can sometimes be affordable without insurance.  However, here are some good reasons why you may want to include these benefits in your plan:

• Your insurance plan may give you access to better deals than purchasing these services on your own
• A good health insurance provider will be able to offer additional support such as guiding you to the right specialist

 

 

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  Types of Area of Cover (and how to choose?)

Many of Thailand’s health insurance policies may mention that they offer worldwide coverage, however, this is often referring to medical emergencies only. If you would like to get medical treatment abroad, you may be denied coverage. For this reason, check the policy carefully to see if you will be allowed to have your treatment outside of Thailand for non-urgent medical procedures, such as a planned surgery. Below are four of the most common areas of coverage found in many insurance policies:

Local (e.g. Thailand only)

If you select this area of cover, you may be denied coverage outside of Thailand.  Many policies do not explicitly state the area of coverage, so check with your health insurance broker or the insurance company to see if the plan’s area of coverage is local.

Regional

Regional area of cover will allow you to be covered fully within those regions, even for non-emergencies.

Worldwide with excluded countries

These plans will allow you to be fully covered worldwide with the exception of the excluded countries. The most commonly excluded country is the USA, as medical expenses there can be very costly.

Worldwide

Not so common in Thailand as the cost of a policy will be very high.

Choosing Area of Cover

Ask yourself these questions for the upcoming year.

• What’s your budget? The more countries included in your policy’s area of cover, the more costly it will be. You can make your premium more affordable by limiting the amount of countries in your area of cover. Enquire with your insurance company for a range of quotes.
• Will you be travelling for extended periods of time? If you need to travel for an extended period of time, either for work or leisure, then it may be wise to ensure those countries are included in your area of cover. However, many insurance plans offer coverage for medical emergencies & accidents for treatments outside the area of cover.  For example, Luma offers 60 days coverage for medical emergencies and accidents outside the area of cover, meaning if you’re travelling for less than 60 days, you’ll be covered.
• Do you want the option to be treated elsewhere? For expats, if your home country is not included in the area of cover and you’d like to be treated there, then it’s worth talking with your insurance provider about adding the option to your policy. Whether you’re an expat or a local, you may also want the option and flexibility to be treated by the best doctors, wherever they may be.