When someone moves to the Philippines, or to other 3rd world countries, it is almost an obligation to have a good health insurance plan. Costs for medical treatment and medicines are high and they will take a lot from your savings or small pension.
A few days ago I received an e-mail from a man (Canadian) who was living here in the Philippines.
He wrote me that he was 62 and has never been sick. He is working voluntarily with children somewhere in the Philippines. The man was seeking for help to raise money for medical treatment. Some moths ago he had a surgery on his stomach and this has cost him all his savings.
Now he has had a small heart attack caused by a tumor near the urinary bladder. This tumor needs to be removed but he doesn’t have any money left to pay for it. He doesn’t have any medical insurance. This surgery will cost around 120,000 pesos.
He asked me if there are organizations of charity in the Philippines who are possibly able to help him.
He told me in a second mail that he tried to ask friends and family but he got no for an answer. Also his Canadian Embassy couldn’t help him, because they want the money paid back, and he doesn’t have any.
This is a sad story but reality. I am not writing this story for fun: it really happened that I received this mans e-mail. I am sure there are more expats living in the Philippines or elsewhere who do not have any health insurance.
There are a number of insurance companies in the world. They all would like to have you as a customer. In my earlier post about this subject (check HERE) I gave already a lot of addresses from websites of those companies.
Check them out if you do not have a health insurance yet, or you are planning to live in or visit the Philippines.
Sep 04, 2009 @ 10:31:17
By US standards P120000 for major medical is quite cheap however if you don’t have it to pay that is another issue. It is too late for him to purchase insurance for this problem since he is already ill.
One possibility he might consider is returning to Canada for his care. Then return when he is better and then purchase insurance. I don’t know if that is an option for him at this point.
I listed a few insurance companys on my site as well. I have insurance to cover my major medical but when I move I might look into additional insuranceas a back up.
I hope he is able to resolve his problem. he is in a very serious position.
Sep 04, 2009 @ 10:50:10
Thanks Tom, for your comment.
Yes, I suggested him to return to Canada, but he has also French citizenship. He prefers to go to France. Let’s hope he will find a solution.
Sep 05, 2009 @ 10:31:06
The important thing is go somewhere and go now before it is too late. If he gets too sick to travel he will be in big trouble.
I was just reading about an Australian injured in India. To return home by air ambulance $250,000. If he gets well enough to travel on a stretcher on a regular airliner $75,000.
If your friend needs serious medical care I strongly advise him not to tarry. Get on the first plane home he can.
Sep 12, 2009 @ 02:35:50
I’m a Filipino now working in the US. Quick question, it hurts whenever I read something with the Philippines and ‘third world country/ies’ in one sentence.
Sep 15, 2009 @ 10:28:09
Nick,
Nice of you to visit my website.
I am also not happy with the term 3rd world country. But the term is still used for a lot of coutries. Check wikipedia. I used the term so my many international readers understand better.
Sep 13, 2009 @ 05:33:26
Hi Jan,
I was hoping you had blogs about retiring in the Philippines and Medicare. My wife and I plan to retire and live in the Philppines but this is our main cincern. Does anyone have a direct knowledge about portability of Medicare? We have SCAN as our provider but if needed we can switch. Oh, we are US citizens.
Ramon
Sep 15, 2009 @ 10:42:41
Hi Ramon,
I only can give general information about medical insurab=nces in the Philippines. This is because every person has different needs and wants to have different coverages.
You better ask your present medicare company about transfering to the PI and what their terms and conditions are.
If necessary you can always ask for qoutations at the companies I am mentioning on my site.
Sep 18, 2009 @ 06:11:20
Big problem is the cost of insurance. For me personally im getting quotes for around £1500 a year (over P100,000) im 35 and in good health. So personally I will just bank P100,000 for a medical fund and earn interest on the savings and hopefully never have to break into it.
Sep 18, 2009 @ 10:35:50
Matt,
Good of you to save for eventualities.
Aside from that my wife and I have PhiliHealth. Covers some of the expenses and cost only 100 pesos a month for the two of us.
Nov 29, 2010 @ 18:13:29
Jan
I think Philihealth covers up to 50% of expenses, which is alot better than nothing at all.
Nov 30, 2010 @ 09:22:11
completely agree with you, and the costs of this is very low: just 100 pesos a month covers the whole family.
Mar 06, 2011 @ 11:09:37
Hi, check Blue Cross Insurance Inc. a local provider who may be able to help you. Their trunkline is 899-8001. website: http://www.bluecross.com.ph/
May 31, 2011 @ 17:07:53
I think Jan, as long that you are healthy its no problem to get a assurance. But when you already have a disease (lets say cancer) No assurance will take you. And mostly the contracts with a medical assurance company are for one year, I heard story’s about bluecross when you going to cost to much thy kick you out there medical assurance after one year.
Jun 01, 2011 @ 23:12:07
Wilfried,
I am not sure about this, but it is very possible.
If other readers have experience with this, I hope they will let us know….
Jul 26, 2012 @ 01:40:12
Hi Jan: Excellent article. Although Phil-Health is always good to have, an expat must have a huge reserve for medical expensenses when advancing in older years. My father was Filipino-American who had respiratory problems with complications at 84 years of age. Although my parents were able to afford their healthcare in the Philippines, during the last year of intensive care I paid over $6,000.00 in medical expenses from the U.S. Many sites suggest $10,000.00 in reserves for medical expenses.
Jul 26, 2012 @ 22:09:48
Hi Roselyn,
Thanks for your comment.
I am planning to write a new post about the same subject, this time with quotes of international insurances.