Health Insurance for Foreigners

Since mid-August, foreigners who live in Udon Thani Muang district have the opportunity to join the Thai national health insurance scheme. The decisive criterion is fixed residence, which must be demonstrated by the production of a yellow house book. If you are married to a Thai, it seems that you will not necessarily need to produce a yellow house book. You can apply for the Insurance scheme by producing your spouse, marriage documents, and blue house book. If the spouse does not go with you, then the yellow house book is mandatory.

[update 16th July 2014]

The national health insurance scheme for foreigners will not be continued after the current policies expire, although immigrants from ASEAN countries will still be able to get government insurance.

[/update]

[update 22nd November 2013]

Unfortunately, even after the specification issued from Bangkok, whom the state health insurance scheme for foreigners shall include this is still uncertain in Udon Thani. Today we learned Udon has as yet no rules as to who is entitled to have insurance, unlike in Chiang Mai, where the details have already been clearly identified. It seems that in Udon Thani everything is still in the dark.
 Read the full news from 22.11.2013 on Udon News

[/ update]

[update 11th November 2013]

We've been told today that the "Health Card For Uninsured Foreigners" should apply to all foreigners living in Thailand. This includes also farang. Applicants should wait until the middle of next week before they go to their relevant state hospital to apply for the insurance as it will take the hospitals a while to implement the new order. Once we've found out that once again requests are processed in Udon Thani, we will report it here.

[/update]

[Update 28th October 2013]

Despite the fact that we were told on Friday that Udon Hospital would be accepting applications for the health scheme from foreigners, we have found out today that they still aren't! Instead they are told to write in to join a waiting list. We will keep enquiring about this problem until it is resolved satisfactorily.

[/update]

[Update 25th October 2013]

With immediate effect all foreigners living in Udon Thani including farangs can sign up for the Health Card For Foreigners scheme at Udon Hospital at Nong Prajak again.

[/update]

We have today - 24th October 2013 - received an interesting comment, then phoned the insurance company in Bangkok.

The insurance company is the HIGTHAI - www.higthai.org. We have requested clarification from the company about for whom the insurance is intended. We were told that the insurance was designed for foreigners, regardless of their nationality, thus also for farangs!

Furthermore, we asked whether hospitals would have a quota , which would limit the intake of insured. They told us that there were no limits as to numbers.

Our contact has allowed us to publish their phone number in this article. If applicants are rejected at the hospital, then they could ask the hospital staff to ring this number; "the number is no longer valid", and clarify with HIGTHAI that they should be entitled to apply.

On applying for the insurance you will be subjected to a comprehensive health check at Udon Hospital next to Nongprajak Park. The entire procedure for application works as follows:

Take with you your yellow house book, passport, and if applicable, marriage certificate and identification documents of your spouse. If you can read, write and speak Thai well, then you can make the application process alone. If not, you will need to take a Thai speaker to help.

1. At the main entrance of the hospital ask where to find the room to apply for insurance. To describe the way here would be too difficult!

2. Once there, express your desire to join the insurance scheme.

3. You will be given a registration form, which is predominantly filled in in Thai. Also your photo and fingerprints will be taken. Once you have completed the form, you get a docket where the various stations are listed that you work through.

4. At the first station you now pay 2,800 baht, 2,200 for one year's insurance and 600 for your medical check. For children the insurance costs 365 baht and no health check is required.

5. At the next station, your blood pressure is measured and you will be asked about any medical conditions and allergies. In addition, your weight and height are recorded.

6. At the next station you give blood and urine samples for further investigation.

7. At the next station, the upper body is X-rayed, the images to be collected 30 minutes later at the same station.

8. Take the X-rays back to the station where your blood pressure was measured.

9. There you wait as all the results of the various tests are collated, and then you will meet a doctor to discuss any issues.

10. Lastly you return to the desk where you originally made your application to receive your insurance card.

If any health problems were identified in the investigation, you may get an appointment for the next day for further clarification or appropriate medication. In our case today antihypertensive medicine was prescribed, and, in another case, an appointment was made with a specialist at the hospital for the next day. In any case, you get the insurance card. Exclusion criteria are the presence of prohibited toxic substances (drugs) in the blood and / or urine, alcoholism, syphilis infection and tuberculosis. If you turn up with any amount of alcohol in your blood, you will probably be rejected. People with diabetes, HIV, heart disease, etc. will still be admitted to the scheme. The whole process takes up to a day (7 hours), so you should take a book or something else to pass the time.

The policy covers the cost of all medical treatments and prescribed medication in Udonthani Hospital, including cancer and HIV therapy! The cost to stay in the hospital in a ward is charged 350 baht per day (excluding food). For 700 baht per day you can stay in a private room, and for 1,500 baht per day you can have a VIP room. The insurance is valid for one year. For the renewal the same health check is required.

The insurance should be valid and available in all Thai provinces, and the fee will be the same. We expressly point out that we can only report on experiences from Udon Thani, where applicants could ensure success. We'd be happy to hear reports from other provinces, in the comments section below.

In this information booklet the insurance conditions are listed (in Thai). The second page is a part of the ministerial decree about the new scheme.

Here you can download the full decree (in Thai).

Click here for the application form.

posted on: 22.11.2013 - last update on: 14.02.2016

Coordinates for your navigation device

Health Insurance for Foreigners on Google Maps