Health cover

[hk blues]

16 hours ago, jimeve said:

I think tourist can avail of Philhealth but must pay the full amount P17K.

Certainly the wording of eligibility is a little vague - it states living or working here with an ACR.  Of course, tourists may have the ACR but can they be classed as living here?  

Best that Geoff asks Philhealth directly - I'd recommend going to an actual office rather one of the satellite offices where a Supervisor can clarify.  

[Kingpin]

23 hours ago, GeoffH said:

I've seen a few people mention PhilHealth as an option, is that restricted to 13A and SRRV or can tourist visa holders avail of it as well?

Anyone can get it, not sure why you'd want it though since the coverage is minimal.

[GeoffH]

3 hours ago, Kingpin said:

Anyone can get it, not sure why you'd want it though since the coverage is minimal.

To top up my private health cover making it stretch further.

[hk blues]

13 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

To top up my private health cover making it stretch further.

Some private health cover also requires Philhealth membership.  My employer's being one. 

[Freebie]

Relevant to this topic spoke with a friend recently  as I hadnt seen him on my daily walks. told me he now goes to the gym , after he had a heart attack over Christmas period. classic symptons and fortunately he lives only a few hundred metres form Makati Med.

Had 3 stents put in his arteries and was revived 4 times by the paddles.  ICU for 3 or 4 days and of course , the itemised bill covered every single item.

 

Total cost P1.2 mill. He paid in cash as no health insurance. And of course once hed paid 1 million he needed to use his card to go to ATM to make final payment. ... they insisted he hand over watch, passport and other valuables first , even though the ATM is on the side of Makati Med. F...ing vultures ! And so they sent two guards to supervise his withdrawla

So , for those reliant on emergency funds, make sure your credit card has a good high balance and/or access to lots of cash in case of emergency situation.

[mountainside]

1 hour ago, Freebie said:

Total cost P1.2 mill. He paid in cash as no health insurance. And of course once hed paid 1 million he needed to use his card to go to ATM to make final payment. ... they insisted he hand over watch, passport and other valuables first , even though the ATM is on the side of Makati Med. F...ing vultures ! And so they sent two guards to supervise his withdrawla

WTH!  Makati Med couldn't process a $3600 USD debit/credit card payment in house?  Or Wise transfer to their account?  The man was taken across the street like a common criminal?  They thought he'd flee the country in Teves's helicopter?

If your friend's account is accurate (and I don't discredit it) then I need to do more research into private hospital billing and payment practices.  I don't expect free medical services, and I understand about the unlawful detained-until-payment practices of Philippine hospitals.  But I'll be damned if I'll be treated as a criminal while innocent -- it might give me a heart attack.  And there ain't no way I'm burying $50k US under floorboards for things like this.  As soon as I buried the money I'd forget where I buried it.

Edited April 22, 2023 by mountainside

[Freebie]

2 hours ago, mountainside said:

and I understand about the unlawful detained-until-payment practices of Philippine hospitals.

In his story, he related that despite being weak recovering from surgery he was able to express his disappointment and frustration via several well expressed robust and clear responses to that situation including sailors language. Yes its horrific and yes its against the law that was made for the purpose of not detailing patients ex patients like criminals.. and yet the practice continues. I believe my language would have been equally direct if faced by this detainment till paid  BS.

Related.. I had a minor treatment in Healthway recently. They dont accept any card.. no credit card no debit card. cash only. And this is an Ayala company.

I had insufficient cash so they happily took a couple of my  ID's until I returned.  Treating patients ( 15th visit there ) with respect.. yeah right.....

[fillipino_wannabe]

One of my wifes employees mum just died in hospital from multiple strokes. She paid half of the 700k bill and they let her sign a promissory note to pay the rest within a month or they'll file a case and she'll be liable for all of their legal expenses. Now they're spam calling her every day with threats after just a few days, she's not even buried her mum yet.
The hospital was shocking, my wife was talking with the doctor and he said they have 3 nurses per 100 patients. Tried going to the public hospital, they have plenty of nurses but barely any medicine lol.

[Dave Hounddriver]

4 hours ago, Freebie said:

They dont accept any card.. no credit card no debit card. cash only.

I had a couple of hospitalization incidents in Philippines hospital.  I found that hospitals in bigger cities accepted credit cards but you have to get out of your sick bed and go to the front desk to process it.  (The workaround is to have a companion, as almost everyone does in Philippine hospitals, who does the running around to collect cash for you.)  The smaller towns did not accept cards but surely that will change sometime soon.  Ya think?

[Freebie]

15 hours ago, fillipino_wannabe said:

Now they're spam calling her every day with threats after just a few days, she's not even buried her mum yet.

I could be wrong but that to me is the bahaviour of bloodsucking vermin. Human pond scum.