How do older expats secure health insurance in VN

If your wife finds work here the employer will give her medical cover, some even allow spouses to be included

Failing that you will be at the mercy or the brokerw 2ho woll see you as western and probsbly charge a small fortune

Hi Kevin, as you have discovered, it's no fun trying to get insurance as you get older. I am over seventy and in good shape, but I find the cost of insurance prohibitive so now I just wing it when travelling. My health cover in Ireland theoretically covers me for up to €70,000 as long as I'm not out of the country for more than six months, but I haven't had to test it yet.
I'm sorry this is no help, but I think you just have to pay the going rate or go without insurance.

Kjmwest wrote:

Hi - my name is Kevin. New to the site. My wife and I are going to relocate to VN as soon as this virus thing opens the borders to foreigners. She holds duel VN/US citizenship and is 47 yo. I’m retired US citizen and am 67 yo. My inquiry is regarding health insurance for both of us. She’s an RN here in the states and we’re hoping she can find work there as well with family benefits. If not we’d need to buy private insurance which I’m finding out is on the expensive side. That not being the worst of it - I’m also finding that many of these companies don’t want to insure a candidate over 64 or so.

I know many expats over there are over 65 and retired like I am. What advice can you give me? There must be a solution other than going without insurance. I appreciate any sage advice anyone can provide.
Much appreciated - Kevin

Hi Kevin, I am 70 & have private medical insurance & have been with the same company for 5 years now. At 67 you actually should not have any problem getting insurance at all but depending on the cover its as you say gonna cost you. At 70 I thought I would see a big increase this year but actually went & did a big medical examination & got a very clean bill of health & actually got the Insurer to reduce my premium quite considerably. I pay for above the average cover & it cost me this year 6,500usd PA. This year I actually went out to quote from a local Vietnamese company & their premium for slightly less cover  but still good & was quoted at 4,800usd. If you want the names of these 2 Insurers PM me.

Kjmwest wrote:

I’m retired US citizen and am 67 yo. ...
I know many expats over there are over 65 and retired like I am. What advice can you give me? There must be a solution other than going without insurance. I appreciate any sage advice anyone can provide.

My husband and I are both a few years older than you and we don't have insurance.  I have excellent health but my husband had two heart attacks (2005 in Italy and 2012 in CA).  We keep ourselves hale with healthy diet, daily walking to the beach, plus treadmill, stationary bike, ab coaster, hand weights, sit up, and push up at home. 

My husband sees the top cardiologist in Saigon once every 3 months (~500k), total blood test at Pasteur once every 6 months (1.2M), and cardiac tests once a year.  His prescription meds are less than 2M every 3 months.  His total medical expenses, therefore, is about $650/year. 

Adding my blood tests twice a year at Pasteur (2.4M) and lung X ray once a year at 115 Hospital (200k), our family medical expenses are less than $800 a year.

An example of the most expensive entry in his medical expenses:  A few days ago, he had his annual cardiac tests (ECG, EP, Echocardiogram, stress test, chest X-ray, and blood tests), plus being examined by the Deputy Head of Special Treatment Dept at the largest and top heart hospital in Saigon.  The total bill was 4,137k  ($181). 

The cost was considered high because we chose to have the VIP service and the highest ranking cardiologist available at the time in the hospital (1.5M for the exam).  Had we gone with the regular service and lower ranking doctor, the fee would've been only 180k.

Kjmwest wrote:

Hi - my name is Kevin. New to the site. My wife and I are going to relocate to VN as soon as this virus thing opens the borders to foreigners. She holds duel VN/US citizenship and is 47 yo. I’m retired US citizen and am 67 yo. My inquiry is regarding health insurance for both of us. She’s an RN here in the states and we’re hoping she can find work there as well with family benefits. If not we’d need to buy private insurance which I’m finding out is on the expensive side. That not being the worst of it - I’m also finding that many of these companies don’t want to insure a candidate over 64 or so.

I know many expats over there are over 65 and retired like I am. What advice can you give me? There must be a solution other than going without insurance. I appreciate any sage advice anyone can provide.
Much appreciated - Kevin

Based on stories I've been told by expats here in Vietnam, one solution some people use is travel insurance, but there is a catch: you have to continue traveling.

For instance, I have a travel insurance benefit through the VFW that costs about $100.00 and covers virtually all bills, plus travel expenses necessary for you or your body back to your home country.

But the stories I've been told have said it doesn't work with one-way tickets or a trip longer than one year.

So the successful stories I've heard have been from people who fly back to the states once a year on the back end of a round trip ticket.

I'm not claiming that I know if this is valid information.

But I'm posting it here so that maybe someone else who has firsthand experience can talk about this option.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Kjmwest wrote:

Hi - my name is Kevin. New to the site. My wife and I are going to relocate to VN as soon as this virus thing opens the borders to foreigners. She holds duel VN/US citizenship and is 47 yo. I’m retired US citizen and am 67 yo. My inquiry is regarding health insurance for both of us. She’s an RN here in the states and we’re hoping she can find work there as well with family benefits. If not we’d need to buy private insurance which I’m finding out is on the expensive side. That not being the worst of it - I’m also finding that many of these companies don’t want to insure a candidate over 64 or so.

I know many expats over there are over 65 and retired like I am. What advice can you give me? There must be a solution other than going without insurance. I appreciate any sage advice anyone can provide.
Much appreciated - Kevin

Based on stories I've been told by expats here in Vietnam, one solution some people use is travel insurance, but there is a catch: you have to continue traveling.

For instance, I have a travel insurance benefit through the VFW that costs about $100.00 and covers virtually all bills, plus travel expenses necessary for you or your body back to your home country.

But the stories I've been told have said it doesn't work with one-way tickets or a trip longer than one year.

So the successful stories I've heard have been from people who fly back to the states once a year on the back end of a round trip ticket.

I'm not claiming that I know if this is valid information.

But I'm posting it here so that maybe someone else who has firsthand experience can talk about this option.

In my experience regular travel insurance doesn't provide cover for more than 31 days. This can be extended, but it works out a lot more expensive and most companies won't consider anyone over 70.
I have travelled without insurance for the last couple of years, apart from my home based health cover mentioned earlier. I tend to agree with Ciambella's position, healthcare is not that expensive in Vietnam if you just pay for it as you need it. $5,000 a year for health insurance seems ridiculous to me.

Malcolmleitrim wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Kjmwest wrote:

Hi - my name is Kevin. New to the site. My wife and I are going to relocate to VN as soon as this virus thing opens the borders to foreigners. She holds duel VN/US citizenship and is 47 yo. I’m retired US citizen and am 67 yo. My inquiry is regarding health insurance for both of us. She’s an RN here in the states and we’re hoping she can find work there as well with family benefits. If not we’d need to buy private insurance which I’m finding out is on the expensive side. That not being the worst of it - I’m also finding that many of these companies don’t want to insure a candidate over 64 or so.

I know many expats over there are over 65 and retired like I am. What advice can you give me? There must be a solution other than going without insurance. I appreciate any sage advice anyone can provide.
Much appreciated - Kevin

Based on stories I've been told by expats here in Vietnam, one solution some people use is travel insurance, but there is a catch: you have to continue traveling.

For instance, I have a travel insurance benefit through the VFW that costs about $100.00 and covers virtually all bills, plus travel expenses necessary for you or your body back to your home country.

But the stories I've been told have said it doesn't work with one-way tickets or a trip longer than one year.

So the successful stories I've heard have been from people who fly back to the states once a year on the back end of a round trip ticket.

I'm not claiming that I know if this is valid information.

But I'm posting it here so that maybe someone else who has firsthand experience can talk about this option.

In my experience regular travel insurance doesn't provide cover for more than 31 days. This can be extended, but it works out a lot more expensive and most companies won't consider anyone over 70.
I have travelled without insurance for the last couple of years, apart from my home based health cover mentioned earlier. I tend to agree with Ciambella's position, healthcare is not that expensive in Vietnam if you just pay for it as you need it. $5,000 a year for health insurance seems ridiculous to me.

Depends on your circumstances Malcolm. If your retirement income is in excess of 60,000usd PA, 5,000 usd PA for med cover is peanuts. If you are poor & living here on a tight budget you do the tight budget option & remember you pays your money & you take your chances!!



By the way the full medical I did at Care Plus cost me 6.5 million & not with the "top cardiologist" in Saigon.
For the same medical exam I was quoted 10 million vnd from Family Medical & 12 million vnd at FV!!

Spread the wealth is my motto & not like I can take it with me is it!

I watch a lot of Youtube in prep for my early retirement. Here's one of the video I watched talking about insurance (starts at 2:00) The agent is in the Filipines. She said they cover worldwide and they covers from 0-100 yrs old. Can't hurt to send Pacific Cross an email or check out their website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfzqOm2Y3Ao

qnbui wrote:

I watch a lot of Youtube in prep for my early retirement. Here's one of the video I watched talking about insurance (starts at 2:00) The agent is in the Filipines. She said they cover worldwide and they covers from 0-100 yrs old. Can't hurt to send Pacific Cross an email or check out their website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfzqOm2Y3Ao

Pacific Cross was the the alternative quote I got as detailed in my post. They have an office here in HCMC D1. The cover they quoted for was good but I decided to stay with Regency for now.

Thanks for the tip on Pacific Cross. I watched the uTube and went to the website for a quote. The good news is they cover a very broad age range 1-100 age. Most dont do that. They do cover a lot of benefits - but the limits are pretty low unless you choose the $3m coverage max and their isnt that much premium difference between the base coverage cost and the max benefit cost. Worldwide coverage. They also cover pre-existing conditions after your first year of coverage. I can live with that criteria.

The bad news - very expensive. More expensive than other programs i've looked at.

Ive had a chat last night with Aetna with a guy from the UK. They fit most of my criteria as well - except not coverage for pre-existing conditions - which we need. Or we go uninsured for them and pay out of pocket. things could get very expensive if we have occurrences.

Many of the other companies are US based with European division for tax purposes i presume. I'm not as confident in a PI based company. Thank you so much for the rec but i think i'm still on the hunt. Any other thoughts would be very much appreciated as this is an extremely important issue for both my wife and I.

The solution that would solve everything is if she could get a job there. She is a highly credentialed Registered Nurse with management experience as well. We've been trying that route as well hoping to get company benefits.

All is appreciated
Kevin

I'm afraid the reality is health insurance cover is expensive especially as we get older. Whether it's worth it to you or not is up to you, and as has been pointed out, it depends on your personal circumstances.

i don't quite understand why you need any specialist expat insurance company?

co-incidentally, i was prompted by children to start looking at both health and life insurance for me and/or my wife

life insurance is big benefit for me (for wife), but problematic and expensive for me (71), and not necessary (needed)for my wife

whereas health insurance quite useful for both of us (but again, somewhat problematic for me)

a quick search when i was actually looking for bank term deposits (as an alternative to 'Vietnamese' life endowment policy my children were considering getting for my wife (as not available for me), led me to normal old HSBC where they have a straightforward Vietnamese (that you can make world-wide if you want) health policy which seems a great policy/s at a very reasonable cost, and of course HSBC is not 'mickey mouse' company! (although actual insurance is provided by AIA insurance i see in fine print)

depending on which plan, just d2.6mill p/a!! for d5mill p/d hospital, d100mil p/a surgical, etc etc (and capped at d370mill)

and in fact, why not get for my son as well?

see https://www.hsbc.com.vn/en-vn/insurance … ical-care/

and see various good life and disability insurance options there too (no good for me because of age, but again could get for son for his wife)

i tried to look at AIA insurance directly, but it is all Vietnamese and i am not getting anywhere with it at the moment (and my wife does not seem to understand it either); and additionally, looking at other AU insurance companies using insurancewatch.com.au and i (@ 71) can get $A60,000 ie d1bill death cover for $A171 p/m

Don't quote me on this but I think Bluecross Blueshield do cover oversea (last time I was looking for Health Insurance, I saw it.  I did not read it).  I am a bit skeptical about these advertises until you actually use it to find out.  Also there is a guy who is living in Danang for a long time, they did a segment on him (Pho TV, keep in mind these youtuber tell/make show for your liking).  He is Vietnamese American.  He got some major operations and his insurance covered it.
         Hope this help.

We live in HCMC and I am 76 years old. I get my health insurance through FV hospital in District 7. It costs me 16 million/year. All GP visits. specialists appointments and surgery must be carried out at the hospital or their clinic in District 1 but I would not go anywhere else. My wife (44) pays about 10 million. If intrested the insurance office is on the left when entering the hospital foyer, good English and they take cards.

currie wrote:

We live in HCMC and I am 76 years old. I get my health insurance through FV hospital in District 7. It costs me 16 million/year. All GP visits. specialists appointments and surgery must be carried out at the hospital or their clinic in District 1 but I would not go anywhere else. My wife (44) pays about 10 million. If intrested the insurance office is on the left when entering the hospital foyer, good English and they take cards.

From my personal previous experience, FV would be the last place I would go if I needed medical treatment!

For example..1.......I went there with a problem with "floaters" in my left eye(myodesopsia) After seeing an eye "specialist" she said I had a detached retina & needed urgent surgery. My company arranged a flight to Bangkok & checked in to Bumrungrad International Hospital for a second opinion.  After full & comprehensive checks to the eye they prescribed steroid based eye drops & within 2 weeks all was clear & since then never had a problem & that was 3 years ago.

example .......2...............Went there for a pain in my lower right side just below the rib cage. At the reception they asked what the problem was & I explained. A nurse then came & told me I just had "wind" & I abruptly told her she was basically talking crap & I wanted to see a doctor. After that I got their version of VIP treatment saw the doctor & got a series of tests one of which was a blood test. The nurse proceeded to put on here new surgical gloves, tear open the sealed package containing the needle etc. She then dropped the needle on the floor, picked it up & stuck the needle into my arm & drew a blood sample . After that I got an MRA scan & then back up to see the doctor.
After standing waiting at the doctors reception for at least 2 hours I got to see the totally disinterested doctor & told the pain was probably from a previous cracked rib injury & other than that all was OK. I presented the Doctor with my insurance forms he had to fill in for the claim which he refused to do. He signed the forms & told me I had to fill the forms in myself!!

So much for FV, never been back & never will!

My advice for what its worth, if you can make it & can afford insurance to cover it, fly to Bangkok Thailand or Singapore just like most wealthy Vietnamese do for their medical treatment.

I have lived here for a long time and I use World Nomads Travel insurance.

The cost of normal medical visits here is very low and so I insure with them mainly for being covered for emergency/intensive care and for repatriation. The cost at 69 is about $900 and I am covered for South East Asia. There are no limits on the length of time you are away and you can renew while still overseas.

Even though general medical costs are very reasonable here, the private hospitals can be expensive and surgical procedures even in a public hospital can get a bit pricey - a friend had 2 stints and it cost about $10,000 in the local hospital here in Da Lat.

They don't insure after 70, however, so I am now considering my options.

"They don't insure after 70, however, so I am now considering my options."

This is the big problem, I think when we are over 70 the insurance companies think we should stay at home and watch daytime TV. 🙄

Malcolmleitrim wrote:

"They don't insure after 70, however, so I am now considering my options."

This is the big problem, I think when we are over 70 the insurance companies think we should stay at home and watch daytime TV. 🙄

Insurers are grubs at the best of times. My insurance here went up 20% in one year. I have never made a claim and yet they keep on increasing it.

colinoscapee wrote:

Malcolmleitrim wrote:

"They don't insure after 70, however, so I am now considering my options."

This is the big problem, I think when we are over 70 the insurance companies think we should stay at home and watch daytime TV. 🙄

Insurers are grubs at the best of times. My insurance here went up 20% in one year. I have never made a claim and yet they keep on increasing it.

When I first applied for car insurance in 1970 the cost was £25 pa. This was quite a lot at the time but I was assured that as I became a more experienced driver it would reduce. Fifty one years later it is over €500!