Health Insurance for Expat Retiree in the Philippines

[Viking]

23 minutes ago, Freebie said:

I have Cigna and it helped me greatly on my many international travels. I suppose if one was only in Philippines one could pay for regular doctors visits etc as the price per visit plus medication isnt that high, but I think the purpose of medical insurance os for those " oh no not me " days. For instance  several years ago was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Had prostate removed  plus 5 days in hospital in Hong Kong .. the costs for that , plus numerous follow ups back then came to approx USD 40,000. Insurance paid in full. Paying for that without insurance would have left a big hole in the pocket/wallet.

I think thats the main purpose of insurance, not the random outpatient visits that are made.

Insurances is a good thing for emergencies but but for cancer and similar treatments, we would go back to Sweden, where  we will have that for "free"

My wife have both diabetes and hypertension and I am afraid many insurances will use that as an excuse to not pay or have a very high premium. I will check this up better, when we are getting closer to the date of our move.

[MikeB]

5 hours ago, Freebie said:

I have Cigna and it helped me greatly on my many international travels.

Have you used it in the phils and did they do direct billing to insurance or did you have to pay upfront and file claims? That would be the downside to using a foreign company. The insurance company will often say a hospital can direct bill them but it's up to the hospital, not them. 

[OnMyWay]

7 hours ago, stevewool said:

Can I ask, are there any members who have not taken out health insurance at all while living there in the Philippines.

I have Philhealth and that is it.

[Jollygoodfellow]

22 hours ago, RBM said:

Try 1 cover, have unfortunately used them a few times, excellent back up service.

From my understanding they only offer insurance for traveling so not for long term expats I believe. 

[RBM]

5 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

From my understanding they only offer insurance for traveling so not for long term expats I believe. 

I have always bought for 12 months, the only change now that I am aware of is no more extensions when abroad, one must return to home base,

[GeoffH]

9 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

From my understanding they only offer insurance for traveling so not for long term expats I believe. 

That's my understanding too but because I've been travelling to Aussie and back and spending half a year in the Philippines and half a year in Aussie it was an option for me.  They won't work after I rent out my Aussie house (when Covid eventually goes away) and store my stuff because I'll be in the Philippines most of the time.

[Jollygoodfellow]

50 minutes ago, RBM said:

I have always bought for 12 months, the only change now that I am aware of is no more extensions when abroad, one must return to home base,

Yes I think thats my point so only good for that situation if you are not staying here for years.

[Snowy79]

19 hours ago, stevewool said:

Can I ask, are there any members who have not taken out health insurance at all while living there in the Philippines.

I'm one of life's optimists and currently running with no medical cover.  I work on the principle I've had a good life, pretty fit for my age (55) and from my family history we tend to live to a ripe old age.  I've had a couple of medical procedures here in the Philippines all injury related and all easily affordable. It certainly worked out cheaper than insurance costs.  If I get the big C or any other life threatening disease I'd be heading back to the UK and become a burden on the NHS. Anything else they are free to pull the plug on me. 

Edited July 24, 2020 by Snowy79

[GeoffH]

9 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

If I get the big C or any other life threatening disease I'd be heading back to the UK and become a burden on the NHS. Anything else they are free to pull the plug on me. 

GB seems to be a bit more generous than Australia when it comes to expat coverage for illness using the public health citizen from what I've read.

Australia has a policy that if you're a non-resident citizen for 5 years then you can no longer access free and/or subsidized medical and hospital cover in Australia once you've been a non-resident for 5 years. 

You can still access medical and hospital care but you have to become a resident again and apply for a new medicare card (no waiting period) but I'm not sure what the implications are if you did that and then flew back to the Philippines after you recovered.  Even an tax agent that specializes in expat tax was unable to get a definitive answer from medicare or the ATO.  

 

[hk blues]

11 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I have Philhealth and that is it.

Likewise