Mandatory health insurance for long-stay foreigners

Health insurance will be mandatory for expats aged 50+ years look towards a long-term stay in Thailand.

The insurance policy must offer up to 40,000 baht coverage for outpatient treatment and up to 400,000 baht for inpatient treatment.

The Health Service Support Department director-general Nattawuth Prasert-siripong says, “The Cabinet has already approved the new rule. This is one of the measures the government has introduced to ease the financial burden placed on state hospitals by foreigners, many of whom have not paid for treatment.”

According to Nattawuth, the new rule applies to both new applicants for the non-immigrant visa (O-A), which offers a stay of up to one year, and those wishing to renew their visa. Each renewal is valid for one year.

“Such health insurance is good for foreigners too.”

A spokesperson said that foreigners can buy valid health insurance from longstay.tgia.org or if they wish to use health insurance that they bought overseas, they must ensure that the coverage amount is no less than what is required by the rule.

“We are going to discuss with relevant authorities on to how to check the validity of health insurance bought from overseas,” Nattawuth said.

For foreigners who can’t purchase health insurance because their health risks are considered too high, Nattawuth says relevant authorities might consider requiring them to have higher deposits in bank accounts so as to make sure that they have enough to live in Thailand.

SOURCE: The Nation