Holidays sometimes financial disaster due to medical costs abroad
The Dutch are currently, in the run-up to the transition period, fully immersed in health insurance again. In order to keep health insurance affordable, more people no longer take out additional insurance or opt for a high deductible.
This can have consequences when you go on holiday to Thailand, for example. With basic health insurance you are insured in most European countries and a number of treaty countries, but Thailand is not included. If you do not have additional insurance with worldwide coverage, you will be uninsured in many holiday countries outside Europe.
The world's largest travel insurer and aid provider Allianz Global Assistance therefore warns Dutch holidaymakers about gaps in health insurance. If you don't fix that by taking out travel insurance with cover for medical costs, you can just go on board for tens of thousands of euros.
Obligatory deductible excess
The Dutch basic health insurance has a mandatory deductible of 360 euros in 2014. So if you visit a hospital in Thailand, the first 360 euros are for your own account. This can also be prevented by taking out travel insurance with cover for medical costs. Travel insurance from Allianz Global Assistance fully reimburses the mandatory excess of your health insurance.
Allianz Global Assistance calls on consumers to pay close attention to the conditions that apply to the supplementary insurance for medical costs abroad. With good health insurance, minor health problems are usually covered during a holiday abroad. As a result, people often assume that they are well insured for all health problems. This is not always the case. Allianz Global Assistance is regularly confronted with this and explains why people abroad often have to deal with financial setbacks.
Emergency room visit Miami costs $53.000
Normally, most health insurance policies only reimburse the costs that would apply to equivalent treatment in the Netherlands. Or, if you are additionally insured for medical costs, up to 200 percent of the costs that would have been incurred in the Netherlands. But in some countries the costs for health care are many times higher than in the Netherlands. For example, those who visit the emergency room in Miami have to pay a lot. But also in European countries such as Turkey, Greece or Austria, tourists are taken to private clinics where the costs are higher. Travel insurance always reimburses the cost price of medically necessary treatments and therefore also costs that are not reimbursed by the health insurance.
Some examples of medical costs abroad compared to the Netherlands:
- A migraine in Hurghada, Egypt: 651 euros, in the Netherlands: 213 euros.
- A broken leg in Antalya, Turkey: 16.900 euros, in the Netherlands: 6.340 euros.
- An inflammation of the stomach and intestines (gastroenteritis) in Spain: 8.000 euros, in the Netherlands: 1.934 euros.
- A visit to the emergency room in Miami, USA: 53.000 euros, in the Netherlands: between 500 and 10.000 euros depending on the diagnosis.
- A cut or knee injury in Greece: 3.500 euros, in the Netherlands: 338 euros.
Prevention really is better than cure
Do you not want to be confronted with hefty hospital bills during or after your holiday that you have to pay in full or in part yourself? Then it is good to follow the following advice from Allianz Global Assistance:
- Holidaymakers are advised to take out continuous or short-term travel insurance with medical expenses.
- If there are health problems or if you become ill, please contact the emergency center immediately.
- Always read the conditions of your health insurance and your travel insurance carefully before you go on holiday.
- Keep invoices from healthcare providers or hospitals during the trip to ensure that everything is paid upon return.
- Always make a copy of the invoice.
You can read more about the here short-term travel insurance or a ongoing travel insurance from Allianz Global Assistance.
Source: press release Allianz Global Assistance
About this blogger
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
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Dear reader
what can we learn from this in Thailand?
with a little credit card you can already pay for a nice operation and hospital stay in Thailand.
My last snakes bit 2 visits to the hospital and viewed by 9 men / women upon entry, I think less than 75 euros.
Happy journey greetings Peter Yai
It is true that medical costs abroad can sometimes be strange.
The example of a migraine in Hurghada indicates that the costs had to amount to no less than 650 euros.
Having lived in Hurghada for six years now, I know that people make up the rules there in front of you. Especially if you arrive as a "rich" Westerner.
When you know the right roads, things are not too bad. I once visited an ear, nose and throat doctor three times. Total cost 15 euros.
A post-cataract laser treatment, one examination, one treatment and one follow-up, was three times cheaper than an offer for the same case in the Netherlands. Perfect result, treated by a professor of ophthalmology.
Medical costs, especially in Egypt, are very cheap.
A continuous travel / cancellation insurance is just as expensive (world coverage) as a short insurance.
I pay 75 euros at AEGON for a combi travel/cancellation insurance.
They pay nicely, I had to cancel 2 holidays this year.
Thanks to my private insurance, I am insured for 30 days as illness start time in (almost) all countries in the world. Just send an email in advance, when and where I'm going, etc. and we're done.
As a member of the ADAC (anyone can become one), I am fully insured for approx. € 55,-/year + incl. return flight etc. Insurance for expats in Thailand costs approximately € 50,-+ /month. Where's the problem? rebel
rebel,
Please provide some more information about ADAC. Can you also take out health insurance with this organization if you settle permanently in Thailand?
If you want to know something about health insurance, it is best to contact http://www.verzekereninthailand.nl/ in Hua Hin these are Dutch people and they will find the best possible insurance for you.
Example of the possibilities for expats in Thailand at Kasikorn bank
http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/Personal/Insurance/Generalinsurance/HealthProtect/Pages/Senior_1.aspx
It is an example, but reading it carefully I see that the standard plan of the Kasikorn Bank covers a maximum of 100,000 baht medical costs per illness/accident. So you won't get very far with this if something serious is going on. Especially if you go to a private hospital.
Personally, I only see this insurance as first line .... because I know as a Belgian, EVEN deregistered from BE. you are automatically insured for your health costs EVEN if you are only temporarily on “homeland soil”…!! When I inquired about the local health insurance company before my departure, and “oh no no, you can't”, until the servants called their administrative info because of my assertiveness…. and “oh yeah YES”…. they didn't know that, now they do, just report back to them in case of temporary return (family visit or medical check-up,)
Also a clarification for the tourists among us here, who are deliberately insured abroad for 3 months, is meant for the time span of the recordings…. not of the travel time, but you may not be registered as a resident abroad for a long time. I had already received this confirmation from the servants. This money for Belgium, NL I know nothing about
David,
At the beginning of this year I made a file for Belgians.
A David also responded to it (Was that you?)
Residential address Thailand – Be.
Look under Dossiers – top left.
There are differences between the various health insurance funds regarding the concept of those three months as well as the sums covered.
– CM speaks three months from the first day of care and without a maximum amount
– SM is talking about three months counting from the start of your leave and up to a maximum of 5000 Euro
Ultimately, of course, the committee will judge and decide on your file, ie for how long, from when, to when and how much, but these are the basic guidelines.
The committee that assesses your file may of course always deviate from this.
If you are deregistering in Belgium, it is important that you tell your health insurance fund that you are suspending your health insurance and are not going to cancel it.
Upon return to Belgium when deregistered :
– when suspended you are immediately covered again from the first day you report to your old health insurance fund. Not with someone else because then you will be canceled.
– if you cancel or register with another health insurance fund, you will probably get a waiting period of three months.
@RonnyLadPhrao ;nodie David I'm not, you can sometimes find me on other sites like david555 .
As for those differences that you cite, that mutuality travel insurance covers what used to be Eurocross, now Mutas, and thought that was common. I had made that inquiry because the concept of 3 months could have been explained ambiguously, and it has been made clear to me that this is an annual maximum time of RECORDING, in 1 or more times. Apparently no waiting time is necessary, perhaps because as a pensioner you have already acquired your rights anyway. As a pensioner you have that advantage. So I see KasiKorn insurance as a precursor if serious illness…. return to Belgium our excellent social system (in my opinion) In Belgium, we do complain, but not about that, also a system of maximum invoice according to category ….. only the Scandinavians might do better
David,
The attached PDF file of the file Residential Address Thailand – BE contains the necessary links to the various health insurance companies and the articles of association with MUTAS.
They have united under that name, but each still has its own statutes.
For convenience, I provide here the link to the bylaws for the two most important ones.
State what, for how long and for how much the interventions are guaranteed
CM (are the ones proposed for 2014 but do not differ from previous years) – http://www.cm.be/binaries/Statuten-reisbijstand-2014_tcm375-132183.pdf
See paragraph 3 – Assistance and interventions
The service is guaranteed for three months and starts on the first day of the
care provision.
Soc Mut
http://www.devoorzorg.be/SiteCollectionDocuments/Formulieren/300/StatutenMutas.pdf
Para 2.2.c. Conditions
the temporary stay abroad has a recreational character and does not last
longer than 3 months
A very important difference between CM and Soc Mut.
But as said before, the committee can still decide differently about duration and amount.
I will not go into detail, but take a look at the PDF file attached to the file and you can always contact me if new regulations come out or if there are errors.
It's also impossible for me to keep track of all health insurance policies.
Please provide an official reference (e.g. such as these statutes) if there are new regulations or if it contains information that contradicts what is officially provided, so that we have an official reference source that everyone can consult.
In any case, any information from anyone is welcome.
Whether you can build up rights as a pensioner is new to me.
I don't think you can accrue rights, but maybe pensioners are treated more flexibly.
@RonnyLadPrao regarding expensive recreational can't nothing but agree with your pdf ,
so completely different from my EXPRESS question of clarification to clerk SM mut……(?) so incorrect information obtained,
So wouldn't be the first time, since my second point of insurability (see below from website (GOV.be) that when you return temporarily to Belgium you are automatically insured for medical costs again, they checked this by telephone with the higher echelon and received confirmation until their general astonishment, as they were not aware of it, (so this case does not occur every day)
The temporary absence form was also not known to the local municipal office population.., now they know it after my intervention with ……greetings from their higher chief DistricthuisAntwerp after my request to them, and requested return to the relevant municipal office Antwerp by him,…..with ensuing 5 servants suddenly like locusts in front of the PC screen and indeed … now they found temporary absences for different categories of people.!!
https://www.socialsecurity.be/CMS/leaving_belgium/nl/validate-search.html?nationality=belgium&d
menus to follow ; Nationality ;Belgian> Country; other countries > Retired ….> Choice; Reimbursement of med. cost
Pensioners do not accrue rights, they have fulfilled their rights = acquired rights,
PS: are you NL or BE, because both use completely different concepts?
Moderator: maybe you should communicate further by email, otherwise it will be chatting.
Travel insurance is always a good idea.
Years ago I had an inflamed tooth during my holiday in Thailand, so that I visited the village doctor (birth village of my Thai wife, in the i-san) with a slightly swollen jaw, who then immediately sent me to the local hospital (little one) .
An abscess was growing under the tooth, and the pain was becoming quite unbearable.
Examined there by three friendly dental doctors and students, took two x-rays, removed two syringes under anesthesia, took a plastic bag full of antibiotics with me, and when I braced myself for the bill of this dental feast, it turned out to be 400 baht. amounts!
Just think about that in the Netherlands.
The only thing I was asked upon arrival was my nationality, and the first and last name of my father and mother!? The first consultation with the village doctor was free anyway.
And then you're in the countryside of the countryside, yes, but I've never been so cheap under a doctor's treatment.
Which does not alter the fact that not insuring yourself for this kind of holiday misery would be very stupid, because the same treatment would have been very high in Bangkok.
3 months back here in Ubon spent 3 days in the local hospital with a light
pneumonia.
Total cost for the entire well-groomed treatment 6000 bath.
After checking with the attending physician 35 bath
Very cheap medicines for your own account.
What do you mean expensive.
Greetings Koos.
Does anyone have experience with the travel insurance included in your credit card?