- AIA Health Happy is a health insurance policy from AIA Group in Thailand.
- It is a very popular insurance policy due to its as-charged benefits and its middle tier price class.
If you are unsure about the policy language, you can learn more in our article about policy wording and benefits. Or if you are an expat and you want to know how to find the best health insurance in Thailand, you can learn more here.
Who is AIA Health Happy for?
- This policy has a large plan coverage, so it’s ideal for people who want peace of mind when it comes to large, unexpected hospital bills.
- Having as-charged benefits together with a large plan coverage also allows the policy holder use more expensive hospitals, without depleting the annual plan limit.
- It’s a policy which includes cover for certain critical illnesses with an added benefit of double the plan coverage for illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, and artery by-pass surgery.
AIA Requirements
- Age between 6 to 75 years (coverage until 99).
- For expats: work permit, spousal visa, or retirement visa.
- Proof of a 1-year visa in Thailand.
- Proof of income in Thailand (can be retirement income or spouse)
- Application department may request additional documents.
Please note that AIA Health Happy can not be used for medical cover to obtain a retirement visa. For a list of policies for retirement visa purposes please check on the Long stay website.
Health Happy Coverage, Overview & Pricing
Customers choose a policy plan according to their needs which provides an annual insured amount.
Health Happy Plan coverage:
- Plan 1 = 1 million baht
- Plan 2 = 5 million baht
- Plan 3 = 15 million baht
- Plan 4 = 25 million baht
Double plan benefit for certain critical illnesses.
Health Happy can be renewed until the age of 98, with a coverage period up to the age of 99 or until the basic insurance plan expires.
As-charged benefits
All insurance policies have certain benefits which in turn pay for your medical expenses.
- Most of the Health Happy benefits are paid “as-charged”. If you are hospitalized and you need to have an operation, having as-charged benefits can reduce your medical expenditure the most.
- The opposite of as-charged benefits would be limited benefits. Limited benefits specify an amount that the insurer will pay up to for that benefit. If the expense is more than the limited benefit, the policy holder would need to pay the excess.
- There are many different types of limited benefits, which you can learn more about in our policy wording and benefits article.
Double plan coverage for critical illness
Another unique benefit of Health Happy is that the insured amount is doubled for certain critical illnesses.
For example, if you get cancer and you have a Health Happy Plan 2, which normally has 5 million baht coverage, you’ll be covered for 10 million baht instead.
Below you’ll find the AIA Health Happy pricing tables. You can find the annual premium for the policy by looking in your age bracket and gender column.
If you cannot see the premiums clearly, please download the brochure above which includes it as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the common questions people ask about the AIA Health Happy policy. If you have any other questions, feel free to send me a message.
Does AIA Health Happy give IPD (in-patient) coverage?
Health Happy’s biggest benefit is its as-charged, IPD (In-patient Department) cover. IPD is when the patient is admitted to the hospital and stays at least one night.
Some of the largest medical expenses can be incurred during hospitalization.
Therefore, when it is within your budget, it is highly recommended that you purchase a health insurance policy that has sufficient IPD coverage.
• The applicant has the duty to provide true information in applying for insurance. Any concealment of truth or declaration of false statements may cause the insurance company to cancel the insurance contract or refuse to pay the claims under the
insurance contract.
• The applicant is advised to study and make thorough understanding about the benefit illustrations before making decision to purchase the insurance. After receiving the policy, please study the details and the terms and conditions as specified in the policy contract.
• Terms and conditions of coverage will be specified in the policy issued to the policyholder.
Do I get OPD (out-patient) coverage?
You also get some OPD (Out-Patient Department) benefits. Coverage includes treating an injury from an accident that happened within 24 hours.
However, I always suggest that customers who are more at risk of having an accident buy a separate accident insurance policy for even more coverage.
With AIA Health Happy you get as-charged OPD coverage 30 days before and after IPD treatment.
Some insurance companies offer additional general OPD expense cover as an optional extra. Just be mindful of whether the benefit you receive is worth the additional premium cost.
Benefits under group 1 through group 13 plus medical expenses for OPD (if any) in aggregate must not exceed the maximum benefits per policy year.
1 Day Surgery refers to a major surgery, or a surgical procedure performed instead of a major surgery, or the use of specialized treatment equipment
that can replace a major surgery, that does not require an overnight hospital stay.
2 Minor Surgery refers to a surgical procedure at the level of cutaneous or subcutaneous or epithelial tissue by applying local/topical anaesthesia.
3 Critical illness coverage during the period that the rider is in force: If the insured is diagnosed and confirmed with the critical illness according to
the definition of critical illness covered under this rider for the first time after the waiting period, the Company will increase the maximum benefits
per policy year to double of the amount of the sum assured under this rider in the policy year that the insured is hospitalized due to critical illness
and will continue to pay such double benefits for another 3 consecutive years. The first policy year that the Company will increase the maximum
benefits per policy year will be either
- The policy year that the insured is hospitalized due to critical illness for the first time; or
- The policy year that the insured undergoes a day surgery due to critical illness for the first time; or
- The policy year that the insured undergoes tissue biopsy for examination for the first time and the biopsy results conform the diagnosis of critical illness ;
Whichever event occurs first. In this respect, the Company will double the maximum benefits for critical illness coverage one time per one illness according to the definition of critical illness covered under this rider as follows: - Acute Heart Attack
- Major Stroke
- Coronary Artery By-Pass Surgery
- Invasive Cancer
- Major Organs Transplantation or Bone Marrow Transplantation)
- Surgery to Aorta
• The applicant has the duty to provide true information in applying for insurance. Any concealment of truth or declaration of false statements may cause the insurance company to cancel the insurance contract or refuse to pay the claims under the insurance contract.
• The applicant is advised to study and make thorough understanding about the benefit illustrations before making decision to purchase the insurance. After receiving the policy, please study the details and the terms and conditions as specified in the policy contract.
• Terms and conditions of coverage will be specified in the policy issued to the policyholder.
Is Health Happy a main policy or rider?
Health Happy Health Insurance is a rider, which means it is an add-on policy and requires a main policy.
The main policy for Health Happy adds a small life insurance benefit. The minimum life benefit at the moment is 100,000 baht, but it only increases the monthly premium with a few hundred baht.
The exact amount of life insurance coverage and the payment duration of the policy are decided on by the customer.
Other insurance companies sometimes include a large life insurance benefit in their standalone main policy which increases the premium..
So with the main + rider policy structure policy holders have more control over the life insurance benefit.
Why do insurers limit the hospital room benefit?
Hospital room fees in Thailand vary greatly in type, quality, and price.
For example, the room price at Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok can go all the way up to 71,000 baht a night.
To prevent policy holders from claiming unnecessary expenses, insurance companies limit the hospital room benefit.
Companies limit the hospital room benefit either by a specific amount or by specifying the room type.
The AIA Health Happy insurance specifies a daily hospital room benefit depending on the chosen policy plan and has as-charged ICU room coverage.
Are there any other notable added benefits?
- The included as-charged OPD accident coverage is an excellent benefit that not many other similarly priced policies have. For example, if you compare it to the standard AXA SwitchCare policy, which is in a similar price category, the policy only covers emergency accident OPD up to a few thousand baht.
- Health Happy also has a lump sum compassionate death benefit which pays out 10,000 baht if the policy holder passes away.
- Emergency ambulance service fee is covered for OPD. This means that Health Happy pays the ambulance fee even if you aren’t hospitalized (stay the night). Other insurance companies sometimes only cover the ambulance fees for inpatient (IPD) treatment.
What are the policy exclusions?
The policy exclusions, waiting period, and medical check-up requirements will differ from company to company, and underwriter used.
The partial exclusions of the AIA Health Happy rider are congenital abnormalities, cosmetic surgery, and pregnancy related complications.
Partial means that there could be other exclusions on a case-to-case bases, so please read through the brochure and policy contract for the full terms and conditions.
• The applicant has the duty to provide true information in applying for insurance.
Any concealment of truth or declaration of false statements may cause the
insurance company to cancel the insurance contract or refuse to pay the claims
under the insurance contract.
• The applicant is advised to study and make thorough understanding about the
benefit illustrations before making decision to purchase the insurance. After
receiving the policy, please study the details and the terms and conditions as
specified in the policy contract.
• Terms and conditions of coverage will be specified in the policy issued to the policyholder.
Insurance companies may mention specific terms and conditions in the policy issued to the policy holder.
Therefore, if you have any concerns, it’s always best to consult with your agent before you apply for any insurance.
Pro tip
If you require a specific benefit which is stated in the policy exclusions, I recommend you find an additional policy to provide the cover that you need.
For example, some other health insurance policies may cover pregnancy at an additional cost to the premium.
In this example, there are always extended waiting periods and sometimes exclusions like the insurance only covers complications, and only for natural births.
An alternative would be to buy the pregnancy insurance directly from the hospital, which may be cheaper and more beneficial.
In this example, the separate pregnancy insurance may cover consultations before and after the birth, doctors and medical fees, and just better cover overall.
Please check, the price of a separate pregnancy insurance could be much cheaper than the additional insurance premium.
In Thailand, one policy rarely covers every benefit a person needs. It’s advisable to think about which benefits you care about most and to get a few policies to cover those needs.
Does AIA cover pre-existing health conditions?
Like most insurance companies, it really depends on the applicant and the medical condition. AIA may approve an application if there are pre-existing health conditions, either with conditions or not. Or they might not approve at all.
AIA Thailand may either:
- approve the application
- approve application after a check-up
- approve application, but exclude pre-existing conditions
- approve application, but at a higher premium
- or deny your application altogether
It’s always best to be honest when disclosing your medical history.
If you mention a pre-existing condition, or a condition that was resolved in the past, the insurer is likely to request a medical check-up.
In Thailand getting a check-up is a standard practice and should be seen as a positive step for your health.
Sometimes people can get discouraged from applying for health insurance because of a pre-existing health condition. However, when possible I always recommend that people apply for health insurance anyway. Anyone's health can get worse, and having cover is always better than not having it.
What is the AIA Health Happy waiting period?
All new health insurance policies have waiting periods where certain policy benefits won’t be available.
Generally, there is always a waiting period of at least 30 days before the policy benefits become available.
For AIA Health Happy there are also illnesses such as hernias, cataracts, tonsillectomy, and endometriosis, which have a 120 day waiting period.
Please remember that all policies are unique contracts between a customer and the company.
For more customer specific terms and conditions, upon application the approval department will specify any conditions based on the customer’s overall profile.
Please check the AIA Health Happy brochure or speak with an agent for more details.
