Philhealth, Gobal Ins, Or Self Insure?

[JJReyes]

Btw - In Sweden we have "expat taxes" for Swedish people geting retirement pay from Swedish government, but living abroad (outside Eueopean Union).

 

The EU members have a cartel like agreement. Germany and Great Britain were required to send home Philippine caregivers and replace them with workers from former Eastern bloc nations who are now EU members. The problem is the quality of workers is lower. Both governments are starting to change their mind.

 

One of the problems of a single currency system is it caused prices everywhere to increase. Spain was a popular retirement destination for Germans and Scandinavians. Britons liked both Spain and Portugal. Now everywhere the prices are high. Even Greece with all the problems is very expensive, unless you are willing to participate in the underground economy, which is to pay everything in cash. As mentioned by Thomas, the disincentive is an "expat tax" to keep everyone living within the European Union.

 

Hopefully, the United States government does not follow because what is already obvious to foreign members is that other countries like the Philippines is much cheaper.

[lyno 47]

Thomas generaly speaking austalians do not have to pay tax on there pensions.If we move overseas we loose some of the benifits that we get here such as utility allowance and what is knows as pensioer concessions allowing cheaper car registation etc cheers

[Thomas]

Btw - In Sweden we have "expat taxes" for Swedish people geting retirement pay from Swedish government, but living abroad (outside Eueopean Union).

 

The EU members have a cartel like agreement. Germany and Great Britain were required to send home Philippine caregivers and replace them with workers from former Eastern bloc nations who are now EU members. The problem is the quality of workers is lower. Both governments are starting to change their mind.

 

One of the problems of a single currency system is it caused prices everywhere to increase. Spain was a popular retirement destination for Germans and Scandinavians. Britons liked both Spain and Portugal. Now everywhere the prices are high. Even Greece with all the problems is very expensive, unless you are willing to participate in the underground economy, which is to pay everything in cash. As mentioned by Thomas, the disincentive is an "expat tax" to keep everyone living within the European Union.

 

Hopefully, the United States government does not follow because what is already obvious to foreign members is that other countries like the Philippines is much cheaper.

Oh I didn't knew of the European Union agreement about caretakers.

 

Sweden have stayed out of Euro, so we have had much less economy and currency problems than the averave within Euro.

 

Oh has it become expensive? Perhaps you mean for Americans?   The US dollar currency worth has fallen very much compared to Swedish krona  :)    (From rather close to 12, down to rather close to 6, so almost halfed in around 12 years!)

 

But FOOD have become expensive in Sweden too. I'm not sure, but I have heared the reason is that rather much of the farmland have been converted from making food to make renewable energy.

 

Thomas generaly speaking austalians do not have to pay tax on there pensions.If we move overseas we loose some of the benifits that we get here such as utility allowance and what is knows as pensioer concessions allowing cheaper car registation etc cheers

oh ok.

In Sweden the retirement tax is kind of DELAYED income tax, because basicly we don't pay any tax on the part we wait to get until retirement age. So I DON'T disagree to we have to pay tax in Sweden on our retirement pay after we have moved abroad too,

but I complain about the unfairness we get BADER tax conditions (for common retirement income levels) when we move abroad and DON'T use subsideded health and caretaking...

[Medic Mike]

Looking after personal health and medical issues in the PI is really a big issue,in particular if you are use to Western level of medicine. Since I am back in Australia monthly, I still carry my Australia Medicare and private insurance with HBF. If things with the GF keep getting better, I will try and get her in Australia for medicare and onto my HBF, even though we will still be residing in Cebu. Having a few connections with the local hospitals, I have found none of the Health insurance available in the PI really suit us from the West. Like someone said in an earlier post, best to try and stay healthy, eat well, exercise, do not smoke, etc etc. Living on the edge in the PI with your health can have some devastating consequences both finacially and personally.

[sjp52]

I was wondering, I have Phil health and my Canadian ohip insurance ( covers up to 200,000 pesos ) and I have insurance through my work (  up to 20,000,000 pesos ). If i ended up in the hospital with a serious ailment and it was expensive, Would they want a lot of cash up front before they would work on me ?

[jpbago]

 

Irregardless whether or not you have private medical insurance, anyone residing in the Philippines should apply for PhilHealth. The reason is some hospitals may not accept private medical insurance because their accounting departments wouldn't know the reimbursement procedure. You are back to square one, which is a substantial cash deposit before any procedure.

PhilHealth or not, you will still need a cash deposit before a procedure in a private hospital. Anyone considering any kind of medical coverage should do their own due diligence by reading the information and speaking directly to the Plan Administrator. 

 

Our daughter was hospitalized on July 1 with dengue shock stage 2 and then pneumonia. We have Philhealth but had to pay a deposit before entering from the ambulance. Then for 11 days, I had to make payments every 2 days to keep the balance below 10,000p. Total cost was 163,500p and Philhealth paid 11,200p of that. Now, Bob, that is not a good chunk but merely a sliver! Some barangays in Bacolod get Philhealth for free.

[MikeB]

I was wondering, I have Phil health and my Canadian ohip insurance ( covers up to 200,000 pesos ) and I have insurance through my work (  up to 20,000,000 pesos ). If i ended up in the hospital with a serious ailment and it was expensive, Would they want a lot of cash up front before they would work on me ?

No one can positively say yes or no, different hospitals have different policies and they change. All hospitals are required by law to treat you if your condition is serious but being admitted is a different matter. We have Blue Cross Philippines, last week our infant had to be admitted to a private hospital outside Cebu City. They did not require a deposit but bugged the hell out of me to get the Letter of Authority from the insurance company. The BC rep came to the hospital the next day and they paid everything. After my own accident a couple years ago I was refused admittance at a different hospital until I came up with a p30k deposit even though I had the same insurance. I would have likely died w/o that deposit. Better carry a credit or debit card with you at all times, regardless of insurance.

[MikeB]

Total cost was 163,500p and Philhealth paid 11,200p of that.

 

That's a good example of what PhilHealth pays and 40% goes direct to the doctor. It's not comprehensive unless you're classified poor. But I thought read in the paper recently that PhilHealth was covering 100% for dengue treatment.

[Mike S]

But I thought read in the paper recently that PhilHealth was covering 100% for dengue treatment.

 

Could be Mike I think I saw that on TV too ..... but the fact his daughter ended up with pneumonia may have altered the facts a little ..... JMHO ..... 

:cheersty:

[Thomas]

 

Total cost was 163,500p and Philhealth paid 11,200p of that.

 

That's a good example of what PhilHealth pays and 40% goes direct to the doctor. It's not comprehensive unless you're classified poor. But I thought read in the paper recently that PhilHealth was covering 100% for dengue treatment.

I suppouse not treated in private hospitals or if chosing private room.