Health Insurance in Philippines

[bikerpat]

Hi my friends,

I am hoping to retire to Phils.

I am retired and am doing research into all the things I need to know re moving there.

One of the important issues for me is Health Insurance, as I will be a foreigner there. I have a g/f there but that won't make any difference.

Anybody already living there what did you do re Health Insurance to cover hospitalisation, etc.....?

Are there insurance companies in the Philippines that can offer a policy and are they reliable.

I know there is a government health insurance called PhilHealth or something like that but do foreigners qualify for this cover?

Thanks


Pat

[Terpe]

Most ex-pats use either Visa or Mastercard to cover healthcare :wink:

[bikerpat]

Hi Terpe.

So if for some reason you are hospitalised you have to pay the bill yourself?

That seems like a very expensive way to pay?

Is there no insurance cover you can get?

Pat

[stevewool]

there is always insurance you can have, but its paying what there are wanting, just try looking on the internet , you will be suprized

[Terpe]

Hi Terpe.

So if for some reason you are hospitalised you have to pay the bill yourself?

That seems like a very expensive way to pay?

Is there no insurance cover you can get?

Pat

My comment was slightly tongue-in-cheek, hence the winking smilie.

There's a lot of information here in the forum.

You really need to establish some parameters:-

What cover do you need?
What cover do you want?

- Budget hospital-only cover for emergency/acute conditions
- Cover for accidents and injuries ?
- Comprehensive cover to includes general patient treatments and consultations?
- Do you want to include cover for repatriation?

Pat, what do you already know about healthcare in the Philippines ?
If you're genuinely concerned then you should include access to good medical facilities in your choices of where to live.
There's no ambulance service like UK

With a little more research you may be able to find a decent healthcare plan from one of these:-

Philhealth Insurance from Philippine Goverment - PhilHealth (http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/)

Blue Cross Philippines (http://www.bluecross.com.ph/)

Fortune Care (http://www.fortunecare.com.ph/newface/index_new.php)

Globe Insure (http://www.globeinsure.com/)

Insular Life Health Care (http://www.freewebs.com/icare/)

Bupa International (http://www.bupa-intl.com/)

Health Care International (http://www.healthcareinternational.com/)

[bikerpat]

My comment was slightly tongue-in-cheek, hence the winking smilie.

There's a lot of information here in the forum.

You really need to establish some parameters:-

What cover do you need?
What cover do you want?

- Budget hospital-only cover for emergency/acute conditions
- Cover for accidents and injuries ?
- Comprehensive cover to includes general patient treatments and consultations?
- Do you want to include cover for repatriation?

Pat, what do you already know about healthcare in the Philippines ?
If you're genuinely concerned then you should include access to good medical facilities in your choices of where to live.
There's no ambulance service like UK

With a little more research you may be able to find a decent healthcare plan from one of these:-

Philhealth Insurance from Philippine Goverment - PhilHealth (http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/)

Blue Cross Philippines (http://www.bluecross.com.ph/)

Fortune Care (http://www.fortunecare.com.ph/newface/index_new.php)

Globe Insure (http://www.globeinsure.com/)

Insular Life Health Care (http://www.freewebs.com/icare/)

Bupa International (http://www.bupa-intl.com/)

Health Care International (http://www.healthcareinternational.com/)

Thanks Terpe, didn't notice the wink. Will go through the various links and see what they say.

Regards

Pat

[Terpe]

Thanks Terpe, didn't notice the wink. Will go through the various links and see what they say.

Regards

Pat

Hehehe it's highly likely that you'll eventually come to agree somewhat with my tongue-in-cheek comment :icon_lol:
No offence was intended, I'm going to be following the same path quite soon so also have a serious interest.

By the way Pat, I think if you have the budget then the retirement visa could be a pretty good route for you (unless you have thoughts on a wedding anytime soon :wink:)

[bikerpat]

Thanks Terpe, no offence taken at all. You've been a pillar of support. I have no marriage plans at the moment because I am separated here in Ireland and the legal process is underway to get outta that situation. However I think I will have the budget for the retirement visa. Also I will hopefully have a budget to live in Phils going on what I'm reading re costs. My g/f is fully aware of my situation and has been great to me. Am heading there 2 Aug till 12 Aug as my birthday 9 Aug. Unfortunately the plans I had made were changed as she got offered a job starting 1 Aug and can't turn it down. So we won't have as much time as we wanted together but she's the one I want to spend my birthday with. Keep in touch re Health Insurance. I sent off some stuff to a few of those links you sent me and I'll see if I get anything back.

[Terpe]

Concerning healthcare / medical issues, here's an interesting resource that might be helpful.
It's called The Filipino Doctor The Filipino Doctor (http://www.thefilipinodoctor.com/specialization.php?page_new=108&pos=All Pages)

You'll enjoy exploring the various informations which is searchable by Hospitals, Doctors and Medical Speciality.
You can also find stuff on Medicines / Drugs etc