Philippines: PhilHealth

[Terpe]

Somewhere buried in another post are details about the new PhilHealth plan for foreigners in the Philippines.
These were first posted by fred and jonnijon I believe

Here's the link to the new rules and regulations which become effective July 1st 2017 :-

https://www.philhealth.gov.ph/circul...c2017-0003.pdf

Everyone has there own thoughts on the usefulness of PhilHealth but when it was P2400 per year it was really a no-brainer.
At P17000 per year I need to seek out whether this is going to be beneficial or not.

My thinking has always been that the good thing with Philhealth is that with a PhilHealth ID it gets you into the hopsital and able to see a doctor.
Here in the Philippines that's not a 'given' and if you end up with some kind of emergency at least the ID is worth it.

My wife phoned up PhilHealth and they seemed to be saying that if you're already a dependant member you can continue.
Since my wife was the one on the phone and i was the one passing bits of paper with questions on for her to ask it all got a confusing.

Next week we'll go to the local PhilHealth office for a serious discussion.

Anyway at least this new thread on an old topic should be easy to find.

If anyone knows more please share

[robbie bobby]

Funnily enough my missus was dealing with the same thing the other day.We were told by PhilHealth that as shes paying the premium and I/OUR children are dependant when in the Phils then she just continues paying the regular payment and we are still covered for any problems which arise.

She asked if it made a difference if we were merely on a 6 month holiday or if we were residing there and again Phil Health told her that as long as shes paying the monthly premium we remain covered.They did say that if she allowed it to lapse and then we needed covered(myself and dependants)that the higher premium would come in to effect.

[robbie bobby]

Funnily enough my missus was dealing with the same thing the other day.We were told by PhilHealth that as shes paying the premium and I/OUR children are dependant when in the Phils then she just continues paying the regular payment and we are still covered for any problems which arise.

She asked if it made a difference if we were merely on a 6 month holiday or if we were residing there and again Phil Health told her that as long as shes paying the monthly premium we remain covered.They did say that if she allowed it to lapse and then we needed covered(myself and dependants)that the higher premium would come in to effect.

[Terpe]

Thanks for that robbie bobbie

[jonnijon]

So it seems from my reseach, that memo was very badly worded. If you are legally married and here on a 13a or g visa or srv retirement the payment will stay as is. If you are not married then the payment will go up .
Here is an excert I found on another site.
Ok, so after much discussion I believe and many phone calls to HO (Philhealth) Manila. Azons' Company Secretary had this to tell us ( I say us, as he has done this for me on our behalf so we can know)
The rules are such, Unified Dependency will not change, that is, those Married and here on a 13a or other such Visa that makes us Permanent Residents ( Operative word is Legally Married) will still be a dependent of our Spouse and enjoy the benefits of the scheme ( as per Law) but where anyone now covered by a Live in Wife will not, However should a Foreigner become a member they can claim for others as Listed on the Policy, Tourists on 9a temporary or otherwise must take out a policy of their own.
This is the state of Play as I am told at 6.15pm this evening
So G % G's the Emphasis is Married and a Permanent Resident to continue your Philhealth Dependency Cover.
He was told that the Circular was actually bady written in Parts and omitted some vital facts that may have led to the confusion it obviously has.
Let's hope that all this is just not Hogwash but I am inclined to believe the issue given to whom it was relayed to.
This is dated May 3.

[Terpe]

Brilliant update. Thanks

I feel a lot more confident now that we're on the right track and I feel more confident in my discussions with PhilHealth this week at their Cubao satellite office.

I'll get whatever guide,flyers and explanatory notes I can get.

Anything important I'll post here

[grahamw48]

I will happily pay the p17,000 from July if it means not being left on a hospital doorstep bleeding to death while I try to remember where I put my travel insurance number.

[Terpe]

Well I finally got around to renewing my Philhealth.
After much ado I discovered that I needed to go to the new Philhealth Centre for Quezon City area located just opposite ABSCBN Tower.
I took the LRT to Cubao then a taxi as the MRT is a complete mess. It's not a major journey.
Have to say the service was efficient and well organised...still long long waiting though

I now pay P17000 per year. I pay quarterly P4250 and need to make payment only at the Philhealth Centre which is a bit of a pain but hey ho.

I added my wife as a dependant on my plan and cancelled out her existing one.

There is a downside to this new system.....there is no Z plan to cover major major procedures

[grahamw48]

Very useful info.

Many thanks for the update. This is something I need to sort out in the near future, especially as my travel insurance has now been upped considerably in price, due to my OAP status.

[jonnijon]

Well I finally got around to renewing my Philhealth.
After much ado I discovered that I needed to go to the new Philhealth Centre for Quezon City area located just opposite ABSCBN Tower.
I took the LRT to Cubao then a taxi as the MRT is a complete mess. It's not a major journey.
Have to say the service was efficient and well organised...still long long waiting though

I now pay P17000 per year. I pay quarterly P4250 and need to make payment only at the Philhealth Centre which is a bit of a pain but hey ho.

I added my wife as a dependant on my plan and cancelled out her existing one.

There is a downside to this new system.....there is no Z plan to cover major major procedures

So I presume you allowed your previous Philhealth to lapse ?? They keep telling my wife there is no change for my payment.

[fred]

After using Fil health a couple of times here in private hospitals,I have come to the conclusion that 17K is not good value.. I`d rather save that money and reinvest it for any future health treatment required.
One of these days I may look closer at Pacific cross plans.

[Terpe]

So I presume you allowed your previous Philhealth to lapse ?? They keep telling my wife there is no change for my payment.

Yep....my mistake I allowed it to lapse.

[Terpe]

After using Fil health a couple of times here in private hospitals,I have come to the conclusion that 17K is not good value.. I`d rather save that money and reinvest it for any future health treatment required.
One of these days I may look closer at Pacific cross plans.

I was prompted to get it sorted asap after my wife needed hospital confinement with severe Amoebiasis.
She spent a week in hospital with various medical treatments. Her Potassium level went way down.
Without Philhealth we would have paid around P70k....with Philhealth we paid only P27
Still a big hit. The cost of Hospital stay was reasonable but the costs of meds and lab tests were expensive.

[grahamw48]

My wife has her own 'standard' Philhealth. She always seemed to be under the impression that I was covered as a 'family member'. I'd always doubted that this would be the case.

She checked recently with them to see if I am covered in any way. They said NO, I am not.

[fred]

I was prompted to get it sorted asap after my wife needed hospital confinement with severe Amoebiasis.
She spent a week in hospital with various medical treatments. Her Potassium level went way down.
Without Philhealth we would have paid around P70k....with Philhealth we paid only P27
Still a big hit. The cost of Hospital stay was reasonable but the costs of meds and lab tests were expensive.

Sorry to hear about that and glad that P/H worked out so well for you both..
In our case,on 2 different occasions we had two separate one week stays and the bill`s were approximately the same..30K
Phil health gave us 6k off the total bill on both occasions.
Perhaps that`s because we used a private hospital?? No idea.

[fred]

My wife has her own 'standard' Philhealth. She always seemed to be under the impression that I was covered as a 'family member'. I'd always doubted that this would be the case.

She checked recently with them to see if I am covered in any way. They said NO, I am not.

Up until last year your wife would have been correct...They changed the rules for us long nose rich foreigners and now they want 17K from us because we can afford it..
I wont pay them because number one... A matter of principle.. N0.2 Not good value IMO..
The Mrs and kids still have full coverage so that`s the main thing.

[grahamw48]

Up until last year your wife would have been correct...They changed the rules for us long nose rich foreigners and now they want 17K from us because we can afford it..
I wont pay them because number one... A matter of principle.. N0.2 Not good value IMO..
The Mrs and kids still have full coverage so that`s the main thing.

Yes, I thought that must be the case Fred.

I will be investigating what benefit I might derive from joining their scheme, before throwing my cash into it.
Past and present I've always enjoyed near-perfect health, but as you get older...

[jonnijon]

Don't know what is going on with the Phil health, a guy in Dumaguete last month was told he is still on as his wife's dependant, no increase in payment. My wife has been told the same here in Tagum.

It seems to me, if you are already a dependant before July last year your payment stays the same. That's if anyone knows different.

[grahamw48]

I'll double check on ours when I get back there in June.

[Terpe]

Sorry to hear about that and glad that P/H worked out so well for you both..
In our case,on 2 different occasions we had two separate one week stays and the bill`s were approximately the same..30K
Phil health gave us 6k off the total bill on both occasions.
Perhaps that`s because we used a private hospital?? No idea.

We too used a private hospital.
I'm sure I read that the costs supported by Philhealth are dependant....just on what exactly I'm not sure....but I think on the reasons for treatments/procedures and what those are within their guidelines.

Bottom line for us is that 17k per year give us a buffer.....quite a few folks we know have said that without Philhealth or other recognised scheme the hospital will demand an upfront payment of around 10K

Anyway we feel OK about it

[Terpe]

Don't know what is going on with the Phil health, a guy in Dumaguete last month was told he is still on as his wife's dependant, no increase in payment. My wife has been told the same here in Tagum.

It seems to me, if you are already a dependant before July last year your payment stays the same. That's if anyone knows different.

Yes, that's the way weunderstood it...plenty of ex-pats I know are also still covered under the scheme of their wife as dependants.