Art2ro Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Just wandering, because a retired military guy I know from another forum has serious medical issues and is having a hard time of killing off an infection that he accquired while in the hospital in Manila! He has spent thousands of dollars here and in the U.S. to no avail. At this point in time, a hospital here in the Philippines associated with his TRICARE medical coverage has just recently removed his prostate in hopes of removing where the infection maybe residing! The operation didn't work and the infection is still in him! He's planning on going to Hawaii where a lot more specialists are availabe to further research what can be done to kill the infection! Money wise, the Philippines is a huge drain on his financies because TRICARE is slow to reimburse his 70% of the total cost of his pharmacy bills that TRICARE doesn't cover certain medications & medical lab screening procedures in the Philippines! The majority of hospitals in the Philippines only know one thing, upfront money paid before they will accept anyone for admission and medical treatment unless one has a very good international medical insurance plan where no money outlay is involved, but that's pretty rare because they are awfully expensive premiums as one get's older pass age 65! For retired military, they have what is called TRICARE Standard and with no premiums to pay up until age 65, but most medical care is a pay up front and after released from the hospital. There are only a handful of hospitals in the Philippines that will do direct billing to TRICARE, because that usually is the retiree's responsibility to claim one's own medical claims only here in the Philippines, in the U.S., one just pays one's copayment and 25% of the total bill and that's it, because the hospital will take care of all the TRICARE paperwork and medication is also cheap in the U.S. using TRICARE! Edited March 8, 2011 by Art2ro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted March 9, 2011 Author Posted March 9, 2011 I know that affordable health care is one of the major concerns of most people living in the Philippines today and it can make or break anyone's financial well being, especialy if one is living on a small fixed income just barely enough to live on! So, what's the alternative? Always try fly back home to one's native home country and seek out free medical health care as long one is still able physically? What if one gets disabled and can no longer fend for oneself let alone be able to affordable for a plane ticket home? They're SOL and hope they have someone back home to rely on and if not, they just suffer and wait to die in their homes like most of the poor Filipinos in this country! Yeah, it's a really scary thought and so that is why I brought up this topic up and it seems that there's a lot of people too shy to to add their 2 centavos worth! I know some foreigners won't live here if they have no form of medical health insurance to fall back on, but there are those who do not, because they can't afford the premiums! Scary! That's why I always say "Different Strokes for Different Folks"! "Life Is What We All Make It To Be"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 Art this is a good topic IMHO and if nothing else it will get some people thinking ahead. I am lucky to have US health insurance which will cover me in some hospitals here in the Manila area and reimburse me if I am forced to use a local hospital, so besides that, having good credit is very important and a credit card from back home or local sure would help. I have also made sure that both my wife and I have access to any and all bank accounts, be they here or back home, that way I can take care of her should she fall ill, and she can take care of me if it is I who falls ill, which is the most likely scenario since I am 20 years older, but any of us can go at anytime and I have lost quite a few friends much younger than I am, so like a good boy scout, it is extremely important to be prepared for the worst, and pray or hope for the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundy Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 This is a very important topic and needs consideration for anyone planning on living in the Philippines. Thankfully i have never been hospitalised in the Philippines, but i do have first hand knowledge of what goes on and how the system works and beleve me, it is scary to say the least.My wife's father was in and out of hospital for a period of 7 years before he passed away, at one stage several times a year so i know just how expensive it can be and not just the hospital treatment but the absolute rediculous price of some drugs. Anyone ever tried purchasing insulin?For you to live in the Philippines with no healthcare insurance of any kind is in my opinion not very bright. Now, i can get Philhealth because i am married to a Filipina but this will only cover approximately 30% of medical costs. It is extremely cheap and should be taken up by anyone in a position to do so if they can't afford a full insurance.As we will be living there fulltime very soon i have been researching an affordable healthcare plan for the two of us and i'm finding, like everyone else that the premiums are very very high. What i have found now is that there is a form of travel insurance which you can take out and renew every 12 months.It is way cheaper, for us it comes to $953 Australian dollars per year and it covers ALL costs associated with hospital treatment and medication.For us, as of now this is the way we will go but once again i would strongly recommend anyone wanting to live there to look closely at healthcare insurance of some kind because if heaven forbid you did have an accident or whatever and needed extensive hospital treatment, the costs involved could very well wipe you out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Sibbick Posted March 12, 2011 Posted March 12, 2011 I have been in hospital 3 times in the Philippines. I found it extremely cheap. So cheap, I gave up insurance in 1996 after the first 2 times and now self insure.In any case, if I had a medical emergency on Leyte, I would be dead before I got to a decent hospital. So no point paying for non existent health care.Provided I survive the initial problem, i will just head back to Australia where I can get free health care.Otherwise, being dead, I am sure I will no longer care!Regards: Jim Sibbick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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