Gandang Smile Posted March 6, 2021 Posted March 6, 2021 On 3/3/2021 at 8:36 AM, Tommy T. said: Yes... The cost of tests, room and care was quite shocking to L, me and the family. There is a "government" hospital in the area, but it was full up. The private hospital was the only option and prices were ridiculous in our view... I am reluctant to wear my conspiracy tin foil hat in the face of your serious family loss yet, truth be told, greedy private clinics are the reasons why there are so many "Covid-19 cases" in the bigger cities and virtually none in the province and smaller town where, allegedly, health, hygiene and discipline are at a lower point. There are plenty of old men with deep pockets and/or a good health insurance plan whom these clinics can milk for weeks on end because they tested positive for Covid and they have to be kept under observation/quarantine. My wife C's uncle, also recently passed away, was a wealthy businessman from Israel. He was practically kept "trapped" at Makati Medical Center (one of the posh private clinics in Makati) for more than 6 months, in and out ICU, because of "high Covid risk" and his deteriorating pulmonary situation. He never had Covid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hk blues Posted March 6, 2021 Posted March 6, 2021 4 hours ago, Gandang Smile said: I am reluctant to wear my conspiracy tin foil hat in the face of your serious family loss yet, truth be told, greedy private clinics are the reasons why there are so many "Covid-19 cases" in the bigger cities and virtually none in the province and smaller town where, allegedly, health, hygiene and discipline are at a lower point. There are plenty of old men with deep pockets and/or a good health insurance plan whom these clinics can milk for weeks on end because they tested positive for Covid and they have to be kept under observation/quarantine. My wife C's uncle, also recently passed away, was a wealthy businessman from Israel. He was practically kept "trapped" at Makati Medical Center (one of the posh private clinics in Makati) for more than 6 months, in and out ICU, because of "high Covid risk" and his deteriorating pulmonary situation. He never had Covid. I suppose as long as people are willing to keep paying the bills then the private medical industry will continue to provide treatment whether it's needed or not. Not many businesses turn away well-paying customers. I'll bet this is not unique to the Philippines either. Aside - Without wishing to get into another Covid debate (we've had enough of them here already) there are plenty of valid reasons why urban areas suffer from Covid more than rural - I think the "medical scam" is not the biggest factor. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandang Smile Posted March 7, 2021 Posted March 7, 2021 On 3/6/2021 at 5:11 PM, hk blues said: I suppose as long as people are willing to keep paying the bills then the private medical industry will continue to provide treatment whether it's needed or not. Not many businesses turn away well-paying customers. I'll bet this is not unique to the Philippines either. Aside - Without wishing to get into another Covid debate (we've had enough of them here already) there are plenty of valid reasons why urban areas suffer from Covid more than rural - I think the "medical scam" is not the biggest factor. I know, but there's something called "ethics" that should be preventing clinics from keeping wealthy elderly from spending 2 weeks in one of their $1000/day rooms "because Covid". Public hospitals in Manila (and Davao, I heard) simply turn down an elderly who can't even afford the cost of a swab. I am sure, too, that this is not unique to the Philippines. Here things just look uglier because the greed is a little taller and the inequality is a lot larger. Not a pretty show... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted March 7, 2021 Posted March 7, 2021 On 3/5/2021 at 7:39 AM, Tommy T. said: By the way, I looked up that link, JGF - and thanks for posting it. I noticed it is dated April last year. Perhaps things changed as costs mounted against PhilHealth since then? Not from what I could find in Google. There is a list of what the payments are for each level of sickness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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