How to Compare Health Insurance
Getting a health insurance plan that best suits your medical needs and financial budget is extremely important when living in Thailand. While there are plenty of quality health insurance providers offering a wide variety of plans for expats, a common mistake is to simply compare plans based on their premiums.
With Pacific Prime’s help, you will be able to learn how to compare health insurance and get a plan comparison quote that is specifically catered to you.
Click the below button to get a no-obligation, free quote today.
Pacific Prime’s in-house comparison tool
At Pacific Prime, we invest in building our own technological tools that will help our clients find and compare the best health insurance solutions. With our in-house plan comparison tool, you will have access to the most price competitive health insurance plans in Thailand.
Our comparison tool will provide you with a list of comprehensive details about the most suitable plans for you. These are as follows:
- Claims information
- Premiums
- Inpatient benefits
- Outpatient benefits
- Emergency evacuation
- Annual limits
- Deductibles
- And more
The best thing about our comparison tool is that it’s completely free of charge. Visit our comparison tool to find the best health insurance policy in Thailand today.
Get ready to compare health insurance plans (5 easy steps)
There are five simple steps you need to take so that you are able to make the most out of our plan comparison tool. These steps are:
- Determine your medical needs
- Decide on your budget
- Get acquainted with common insurance terms
- Know the insurers’ reputations
- Familiarize yourself with key plan features
By going through these five steps, you’ll be well-placed to compare health insurance plans by using our quoting tool.
1. Determine your medical needs
Determining what your medical needs are currently, as well as in the next few years, is crucial. Doing so will let you know what you really want out of your health insurance plan. After all, there is no point in getting a plan with plenty of benefits that are irrelevant to your medical condition.
For this reason, you should be asking the following questions when assessing your own medical needs:
- Do you currently suffer from chronic medical illness?
- What are the health risks associated with your habits and lifestyle (such as smoking)?
- How long are you planning to stay in Thailand?
- Are you going to be starting a family in the country?
- What were your most common reasons for visiting the hospital in the past 5 years?
By reflecting on these questions, you will have a clearer idea of the medical benefits that you will require from your health insurance plan.
If you are uncertain about your own medical records and health conditions, consult a medical expert or book a health screening before buying health insurance.
2. Decide on your budget
Deciding on your budget will help you narrow down the number of plans when comparing health insurance in Thailand.
To figure out your budget, you’ll need to estimate how much you normally spend on healthcare-related costs each year. This will give you an idea of how much money you can potentially save when purchasing a health insurance plan.
Moreover, you should factor in unexpected healthcare issues that may arise in the upcoming years and how much money it may cost you. This will give you a better idea of the value that a policy provides when comparing health insurance plans in Thailand.
3. Get acquainted with common insurance terms
There’s no denying that health insurance terms can be confusing, especially for those who are not experts in the field.
By getting to know all the key health insurance terms, you’ll be able to understand the policy terms and conditions before putting down your money. These are some of the most important insurance terms you need to know when comparing health insurance in Thailand:
- Benefits: Medical treatments, procedures, and other healthcare costs that are covered by your health insurance plan.
- Claims: A request by the insured to seek payment or reimbursement for medical services received/to be received.
- Premiums: The amount you pay monthly or annually to the insurer for health insurance coverage under a plan.
- Exclusions: A condition, situation, or treatment that your health insurance plan will not cover.
- Waiting periods: A period of time in which insurers may require policyholders to wait before specific coverage benefits will apply.
- Pre-existing conditions: A health problem or concern that was diagnosed or treated before buying a health insurance plan.
- Deductibles: The amount of money you have to pay out of pocket for healthcare treatments before your health insurance plan starts to provide coverage for eligible expenses.
By understanding what these terms mean, you’ll be fully prepared to navigate the process of purchasing health insurance, as well as make the most out of your plan’s benefits further down the line.
If you have any further questions, our expert advisors are ready to offer you a free consultation session today.
4. Know the insurers’ reputations
When comparing health insurance, the details of the plans are not the only things you need to consider. The efficiency of your insurer is equally important, as a good insurer will allow you to benefit from your policy with minimal hiccups.
For instance, you can research whether the insurer has a fast claims process or whether their customer support is helpful. However, information on the insurer’s internal operations and processes can be very difficult to find.
This is where Pacific Prime comes in. We’ve been in the business of simplifying insurance for over 20 years, and currently partner with more than 60 global insurers. With our help, you’ll gain insider knowledge on how different insurers work and learn about each of their advantages.
Contact us for unique insights on global insurers today.
5. Familiarize yourself with key plan features
Finally, get to know the key plan features that you can expect when comparing health insurance plans. This step will allow you to make sense of the options you are given once you’ve received a quote from us.
Here are the key plan features you should analyze when comparing the best health insurance plans in Thailand.
Premiums and coverage
First, compare the premiums to the coverage benefits offered. It’s important that you do not simply opt for plans that offer the most comprehensive benefits or the cheapest premiums. This is because doing the former means you will be paying for more than you need while doing the latter simply won’t get you enough coverage.
Instead, look for plans that offer the right balance between premiums and coverage benefits that suit both your medical needs and your financial budget.
Deductibles
As stated in the third step, deductibles are the amount of money you have to pay out of pocket for healthcare treatments before your health insurance plan starts to provide coverage for eligible expenses. Normally, the higher the deductible, the cheaper the premium.
Renewability
Renewability is an important part of purchasing health insurance. Plans that offer lifetime guaranteed renewability will give you the assurance that you will continue to be covered under the plan regardless of your age or medical conditions, given that you continue to pay for premiums.
Exclusions
Another important feature of a health insurance plan is the number of exclusions. It’s important to check whether a plan excludes coverage for a treatment you need so that you can make the right purchase decision.
Some plans will give you the option to include special medical treatments in their coverage, but this will normally lead to a higher premium.
Emergency evacuation benefits
Emergency evacuation benefits can be crucial for both expats or travelers. Although there are world-class hospitals in Thailand, quality healthcare treatment is not accessible from all corners of the country.
This is why emergency evacuation benefits can come in handy. For instance, if you encounter an accident while on a trip to a remote island in Thailand, you can have the costs of medical evacuation to Bangkok covered with this benefit.
Direct billing
Finally, direct billing services will save you a lot of time and energy when visiting hospitals. Direct billing services will allow your medical bills to be reimbursed by your insurer without needing you to manually file claims every single time you visit a hospital.
Check which hospitals are part of your insurer’s network of providers to see where direct billing services will be available under a particular plan.
Compare health insurance with Pacific Prime
Looking for the best health insurance plan in Thailand? Start comparing health insurance plans with Pacific Prime today to benefit from our award-winning service model.
Pacific Prime offers a myriad of free services that will eliminate the hurdles of purchasing a plan on your own. Our services include:
- Plan comparison and analysis
- Administration assistance
- Insurer liaison
- Claims and renewal negotiation
- Claims support
- Impartial advice
- Hospital info and recommendation
- And more
Pacific Prime is an industry leader when it comes to providing seamless health insurance solutions for expats all over the world. In the past two decades, we have delivered health insurance solutions to over 120,000 clients and 4,000 companies in more than 130 countries.
Get a quote from our team today!