Quote from: Visma on September 05, 2015, 04:19:10 PM

Gekko, I said sell your last Alts and buy Meds, but not THOSE KIND OF MEDS!!

Here is gekko:

How to insure against accidents in Vietnam for a foreigner? (self.VietNam)
submitted 1 month ago by Kirinor
I will be staying in Vietnam for the next year. The climate is nice, but there are lots of insects, diseases that I don't have an immunity to and roads are super dangerous. I don't have a work contract, so no work insurance. The insurance companies in my country are only providing greatly overpriced travel insurance. Also they are notoriously difficult to get back money from. You would have to pay all the costs, collect stamps and fly back home to get a possible refund.
Are there reliable companies in Vietnam that provide health insurance for foreigners? I heard in Thailand you could purchase a package deal from a chain of hospitals that are all around the country. Are there similar deals in Vietnam?

[]EngNam 3 points 1 month ago
HSBC provides good health insurance.
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[]Gekko463 4 points 1 month ago*
No, it doesn't. It is Bao Viet. The Vietnamese government. Same people that manage the road repairs and traffic here.
Not for first world people. Never. I have agency for it and CAN sell it, but it is really only for poor people fluent in Vietnamese and prepared to deal with the corruption and mind bending bureacracy.
In short, fuck no for white people. Anybody that has this crap needs to PM me.
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[]EngNam 0 points 1 month ago*
It's bao Viet but it's done via HSBC, their cover seemed pretty comprehensive an designed for the expat market. There's no bullshit paperwork. It's just regular health insurance
Edit: if you're so confident in your insurance why don't you post the details? Bao viet is large enough to cover what they say they can cover. The details are clear and information is more accessible than "pm me". And if you do it via HSBC there's no language problem
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[]Gekko463 2 points 1 month ago*
I am an insurance broker. I CAN sell the exact same product. AON sells it too, branded as their own product.
HSBC decorated it for the expat market. Same shite, glossier brochure. It ain't even close to "comprehensive".
But I don't. It is a nightmare to claim. Head trauma? There are no head trauma units in Vietnam. They ain't sending you to Bangkok.
Bao Viet DOES pay out if you are the mistress of a party official and need an emergency boob job the day after your boyfriend buys your policy. The Dental plan has capped many an Army General's daughters' teeth.
But they ain't going out of their way to speak Englush to you if you are trying to get them to pay a $35,000 hospital bill.
Would not get this policy for my enemies. And their commission payments are HUGE: hallmark of a crap policy. Why do you think HSBC sells it? 20% commission. Duh.
Why the fuck would you buy insurance from your banker? Do you deposit money with your insurance broker?
How many other health insurance policies does HSBC have to compare for you? I will give you a hint: 0.
Did you shop around at all? Did you talk to an INDEPENDENT broker? Sounds like you just spoke to a low level bank employee with one product to sling.
They told you it was good because it's the only thing they sell.
I have some 70 different policies to choose from. Bao Viet is at the bottom for 100 reasons, the least of which is the corruption than soaks the place. It is a piggy bank for the connected. You pay. Ministers and Generals and Party officials get the proceeds. Your claim will be fought tooth and nail cause there is only so much money.
Get ADVICE next time. You bought garbage. I could sell it and bank 20% of your premium too. But I am not a corrupt dick.
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[]EngNam 1 point 1 month ago
First of all I'm not experienced in the world of insurance. But if it comes down to dealing with an established company or a stranger online obviously I'll go for the established company.
You haven't posted any credentials and your language is far from professional. A link to a website would be a good way to provide information and promote your company, but that's not happened.
I'm not saying you provide cad insurance, I'm simply asking you to provide some evidence of it.
As it happens I've not signed on with HSBC yet, but they still seem like the best option. At the very least they approached the situation with a sense of professionalism.
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[]Gekko463 2 points 1 month ago
We are on Reddit. I am not doxxing myself here. I am giving earnest answers to the question at hand.
I am not a "stranger on the Internet" if you actually did some research when you bought insurance in Vietnam. Those three search terms would lead you straight to me.
I do not have to be professional on Reddit. It is 3 o'clock in the morning, I am naked and drunk and in a Hotel room in Bangkok on vacation. I am pretty sure the hooker is still alive.
That said, I am not seeking your business.
I am telling you to seek independent advice, because going to a bank that carries a single brand of insurance is not how you do this.
Go to an insurance broker. It costs exactly the same as buying it direct from the insurance company. I would give you the exact same numbers HSBC has--but I do not recommend Bao Viet for white people. I don't recommend Liberty for anyone anymore. Blue cross is OK for Vietnamese people trying to get pregnant and willing to pay for full outpatient cover and maternity. It is not as good as any European insurer. But European insurers won't cover Vietnamese unless they are married to a foreigner.
Fuck you for questioning my motives and credentials. You got bad advice, from the wrong kind of establishment and you are passing that advice on to the OP as if it was good advice. It is not good advice.
Leave the insurance advice to me, and I won't come to your job and knock the dick out of your mouth while you're trying to work, deal?
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[]solonicity 2 points 1 month ago
I do not have to be professional on Reddit. It is 3 o'clock in the morning, I am naked and drunk and in a Hotel room in Bangkok on vacation. I am pretty sure the hooker is still alive. That said, I am not seeking your business. I am telling you to seek independent advice
Actually, I quite like that answer, especially after criticizing him for doing poorly something he wasn't even doing at all (spamming the forum to get business) and would be criticized for doing

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[]EngNam 1 point 1 month ago
Dude you're just being rude. I'll follow your advice and if I end up in your office I'll walk straight out.
You've not sold yourself at all you've Just shat on alternative options. And yes when it comes to business you do have to be professional, right now we are strangers online, but what if I were to be your client?
Of course I'll question your credentials and motives. You're selling insurance!
My advice: approach a situation professionally, provide a link to a company (not personal) website, sell yourself rather than criticize others. And just chill out.
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[]Gekko463 1 point 1 month ago*
I don't work for a company. Wrap your head around that. There is no website. I do not have an office--I do all of this by email and Skype. Scanning and signing pdf's
My clients come to me by word of mouth, reviews on expat websites, and recommendations on a Facebook page about Hanoi when somebody asks this question.
They come to me because I talk straight and keep everyone's best interests in line with their budget. People like that. I do not wear a tie and kiss client ass.
No company. No website. No office. Completely paperless, digital, and independent.
If you do contact me, you'll never know it's Gekko463.
I really am drunk naked in Bankok next to a hooker. Perks of the Digital Nomadic existence and not having so much as a website to tie me down.
If I want to advertise and drum up business here, I will pay Reddit for an ad.
As it stands, I am answering the OP. I have invited the OP to PM me for quotes if they like. The OP has thus far not PM'd me, but three other people already have. Which is a bit of a drag, because I am on Holiday, but I will squeeze some time in to serve Redditors.
You don't have to PM me.
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[]EngNam 1 point 1 month ago
No website, no office, email, skype and PDFs. So your a middle man just like HSBC.
Wear a tie and a suit if you can, clients like to know that they are being taken seriously.
Ok give me a quote. Basic health insurance, emergency medical care and dental care. HSBC offered me 3.5 million for the year.
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[]Gekko463 1 point 1 month ago
ROTFL. 3,5 million Dong? That is insurance for Vietnamese textile workers who are only going to government hospitals.
What is it? $5000 of total cover? Including Dental? Hilarious.
You will bleed out wishing they would let you into the white people hospitals like French, Family and Bumrungrad.
Nobody can even give you a rough quote without your age.
Middleman. Yes that is what a broker is. The difference is that HSBC only offers one policy. Bao Viet owned a percentage of HSBC in Vietnam, I believe.
I offer policies from many many different companies.
Let me guess, the person that advised you was a 22 year old girl with broken English who has no idea how many ch a broken hip, cancer, a smashed kneecap, or a medical to Thailand costs.
I offer hundreds of policies and none of the cost 3.5 million ding unless you are a low level manual laborer in a group.
Tell me what the total cover amount is for that policy.
And your birthday.
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continue this thread
[]cpp_is_king 1 point 1 month ago
The guy speaks truth. If you don't have foreign insurance, you are better off paying cash. It's that simple.
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[]Gekko463 2 points 1 month ago*
The details of what? I am a broker. I sell dozens of different policies from dozens of companies. I have Bao Viet. It is not suitable for most people.
You will not be claiming through HSBC when you are bleeding out in the hospital. You will be in the Bao Viet claims department talking to a government employee in Vietnamese or very broken English. But hat persons is a civil servant making 4 million dong a month. That is how many shits they will be giving about your request for money.
I am not paying for an ad on Reddit. I am not listing the details of hundreds of permutations of dozens of policies for dozens of insurance companies.
Do you understand what a broker is? There is no "my' insurance, idiot. I help you shop in the whole market. I sell advice, not any particular insurance. I am paid by the company that eventually writes your policy.
There is no one "right" answer for everyone. Are you a 6 figure engineer with 3 kids and own your own house? Are you a well known Asian musician who travels often around Asia with a blood pressure problem? Are you an English teacher who drives a motorbike drunk constantly with no licence?
All of those "kinds" of people and more are my clients and they all have different health insurance policies at different price points.
And they will each be taken care of differently in the hospital should that day come depending on what they paid, and how well their policies fit their financial circumstances and needs.
You bought the cheapest shit that exists in Vietnam from the company famous for having barely existent English support.
HSBC is not your insurance company. They sold it to you. But they are not the insurance company. They are a captive "agent" of Bao Viet.
Bao Viet IS the Vietnamese government. And it is their cheapest product. They have a better product that is financially backed by Bao Viet, but managed by Aetna. That policy costs 5 times more than the sludge you bought. And it is awesome.
But you are too poor to afford it.
Seriously man. You are cheap, you didn't shop, and if you ever need that policy, you will remember this conversation because you will be out of luck and out of pocket for a lot of things.
I am not promoting any company over another here. But I am pointing out the inadequacies of all of the company names that others are bringing up.
I can sell Bao Viet, Liberty, and Blue cross. At times I do--to the cheapest poorest bastards that don't understand that you get what you pay for. I got Bao Viet for my ex-wife. Because she is Vietnamese, and now too poor for anything better.
My ex-wife is my ONLY Bao Viet client.
I have two clients on the counterfeit Blue Cross: both of them are trying to have babies and the Maternity cover handles some congenital problems after birth unlike the other cheap ass Viet companies. Once the babies pop out healthy, I will move them to a higher quality policy.
PM when you are ready to renew and we will look through all those good companies and find you one where everyone speaks English, and it's not run by lazy, unmotivated, uncaring, corrupt government bureaucrats.
Christ, did you do ANY research or ask any independent advice before you bought insurance from a bank that launders drug money?
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[]NguyenQuocCuong 1 point 1 month ago
Where are you going to stay ?
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[]erufiku 1 point 1 month ago
Bluecross or Liberty, both have problems but still in a league of their own compared to local companies
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[]Gekko463 2 points 1 month ago*
Both of those suck. I will tell you why.
Especially Liberty. Liberty used to be great. Then a new CEO from the underwriting department replaced the excellent CEO from the sales side.
Now, if you USE the Liberty insurance, it self destructs: whatever you had, be it breast cancer, a shattered kneecap or a herniated disk in your back (all real cases from my clients this past year), at renewal time your cancer is now subject to a 30% co-pay, and their liability for anything related to your cancer is capped at $10,000. Same for the knee and the disk.
Liberty insurance is like an iPhone that is very nice until you try to make a phone call--then it explodes and blows half your head off.
I used to have 60% of my clients in Liberty. Now it is less than 10%--I am switching them out at renewal time.
Can document this.
Get real advice. Only an independent broker will tell you the truth.
Blue Cross? Heh heh heh...it's not what you think it is.
It is really "Bao Hiem Viet". BHV. Another cash cow for the Vietnamese government. Dressed up as something that sounds familiar: dreamed up by two shady as hell American fucks named Shane and Gary. They gave it a "Doing business as" name and paid for glossy brochures printed in English.
It has no relationship whatsoever to Blue Cross/Blue Sield in the U.S. You bought fake insurance peddled by con men.
Get real advice from an independent broker. We are the only ones who know what is going on in this complicated market.
Your life depends on it.
PM me if you have Liberty or Blue cross: you need something different. There are much better policies available, and everyone has different needs. There is no one size fits all.
And be clear: cheap insurance is always cheap for a reason. The more you spend, the happier you will be when you need it. Cheap insurance cuts corners in all the places that will surprise the hell out of you when you are weak and broken and in pain. You will be kicking out thousands for things that are very clearly defined in the terms and conditions as "not covered".
You just won't notice when you are looking at the price instead of the detail.
You will get what you pay for.
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[]insertfunnyusername 1 point 1 month ago
I would suggest you check out Quinn Miller, from Tenzing pacific. He's also an expat insurance broker but everyone I know likes and trusts Quinn. The other insurance broker in this thread has an awful reputation in this sub, I know who I would rather buy from.
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[]Gekko463 1 point 1 month ago*
Quinn is a good guy. Have drank with him in a few occasions. Or maybe it's the guy in the mirror when I'm shaving?
Or he may be me?
Tenzig is going tits up.
The brokers are jumping ship because they slashed commissions and insisted that everyone start employing "hard sell" techniques and get at least X new accounts a month or they won't get paid.
Expect a hard sell at Tenzig: and expect that no matter who you are or what you really need, that fake Blue Cross will be shoved down your throat because "Tenzig" was another front for evil Shane and Gary mentioned elsewhere. To sell more of their fake Blue Cross.
I am not in business to kiss your ass. I am in business to make sure you don't go bankrupt when something happens to you.
My clients appreciate my no nonsense approach, and they don't care what I am wearing.
They actually enjoy my ability to be rude when I am dealing with an insurance company dodging a claim on their behalf.
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[]Gekko463 0 points 1 month ago
Pm Me. I sell health insurance to foreigners in Vietnam.
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[]Gekko463 1 point 1 month ago*
Lousy advice. I fell down the stairs last year.
$14,000 so far and more surgery next month. (Broke the hell out of my right hand in many many places).
Travel insurance sends you home if the cost of your treatment exceeds the cost of a one way economy ticket home.
Check your terms and conditions carefully. You get a band-aid, and a trip home.
Travel insurance is not health insurance.
And if you only have travel insurance here, and no health insurance back home in America or anywhere without socialized medicine that you are still eligible for, you are fucked 14 different ways if something serious happens.
A lot of that "medicine" you buy here is quite famously fake sugar pills.
http://m.english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/51521/fake-medicines-threaten-consumers.html#
http://www.vietnambreakingnews.com/2013/06/counterfeit-drugs-put-lives-at-risk/
Only buy your medicine from western clinics--or be cheap and take your chances. Not a good idea if the antibiotics are fake.
It is not YOU that has to be the idiot.
There are plenty of idiots on the road here making phone calls and checking Facebook when they should be driving.
Shit happens. Doesn't matter how "healthy" you are. The wrong mosquito here will kill you.
Further, VIETNAMESE insurance companies (like shitty Bao Viet from HSBC) won't cover you if you are driving without a licence. Select foreign insurers will cover you. You just have to know which ones.
I do. It's my job. That's why you use a broker. The services are free. The knowledge invaluable.
Listening to you is idiotic.
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[]Gekko463 0 points 1 month ago
$10 million is a furphy. Nothing costs that much. No Travel insurance company has ever paid out that much. That is end of life care levels for very rich people.
You totally missed the part in your terms and conditions where it says "we reserve the right to return you to your home country if the cost of your care exceeds the price of a one way ticket home."
Once you are home, you ain't traveling anymore and you better have real health insurance at home.
I know it is not pleasant to know that you have been fooled. 3.5 million dong doesn't take care of you either. That guy ain't going to a good hospital, because his cover is not even enough to cover the airlift to Bumrungrad. With travel insurance, they decide when your travel ends, and their liability with it.
I am a scumbag for telling you the truth that the guy with the suit and fancy fountain pen won't tell you.
If you get hurt bad, you are going home and they are bailing on you well before you cost them more than the price of a one way ticket home.
Travel insurance is NOT health insurance. That is why they are called two different things.
Health insurance takes care of you until you are well. Travel insurance patches you up until their staff doctor says you can be transported home, and they don't have to pay anymore.
If this is what you are counting on, I urge you to make sure you are well insured in your home country. If not, you are fucked 14 ways.
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[]Gekko463 0 points 1 month ago*
Are you and your magic Unicorn Travel insurance (that you haven't named or provided links to) still even covered under your home country socialized policy while you are out of the country not paying taxes? If you are, why do you need travel insurance? Which magical land of communism do you come from that let's you blow off taxes and still have healthcare?
If you are out of the country for extended periods, Canada, Australia, and the UK all drop you from the rolls. I know this because that's who most of my clients are. If you are a Kiwi, you are in luck, they will still treat you.
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[]Gekko463 0 points 1 month ago
And tell us oh wise English teaching backpacker, can the OP buy the same magic Unicorn insurance as you, and benefit from your country's generosity paying the medical bills of tax dead beats?
Or, is insurance kinda complicated and different for everyone?
Stop giving advice. Teach the creatins the Engrish.

Yep. Sure is. I stand by every word of the no bullshit advice I give. I am an honest man who loves banging Asian Hookers in my free time. As you note, I have a lot of free time.

What's your point, DanK? You are the one laundering money and evading taxes while pulling off an elaborate PnD and buying positive fluff articles devoid of disclosure in Crypto publications.

I don't steal from teenagers and launder the proceeds in the Seychelle's. I just try to make sure people have adequate health insurance and bang Asian Hookers.

Wow, posting my Reddit history is going to run up the page count fast.