American Retirees, The Next Big Business For Philippines

[JJReyes]

I wrote an article, which was published today by Inquirer.Net, the online publication of the Philippine Daily Inquirer - http://bit.ly/wBztMM. It is the first in a series about overseas retirement issues including the portability of Medicare. Your comments will be appreciated.JJR

[Mr Lee]

I wrote an article, which was published today by Inquirer.Net, the online publication of the Philippine Daily Inquirer - http://bit.ly/wBztMM. It is the first in a series about overseas retirement issues including the portability of Medicare. Your comments will be appreciated.JJR

IMHO it is a very good article. When the current Philippines president took office and was looking for ways to cut the deficit, I sent him an email and laid out a plan whereas the SRRV should offer for an additional fee an option to include some form of health insurance and that his govt should try to find a way for their hospitals to accept medicare, military insurance as well as other insurances issued by some retirement systems such as Blue Cross. He or his staff never bothered to reply which I really did not expect, but as far as I know none of my suggestions have even been looked into. Heath insurance and health care are very important items for those of us who are getting on in years. Maybe your very well written article might stir the pot a little. :unsure:For those who have Blue Cross you can check HERE or call BlueCard Worldwide Service Center at 1-800-810-BLUE (2583), or call collect at 1-804-673-1177. I have located five doctors in Cebu that accept Blue Cross but no hospitals but I am told I can print and file a claim and get reimbursement for some if an emergency does happen while we are in the Philippines.

With the large number of retirees in Asia and the US, why has the program experienced limited success? Although there are no official numbers published on its website, my understanding is only 30,000 Special Resident Retiree’s Visas (SRRVs) have been issued.

Edit to add, so what was my point by all that, most good ideas will fall on deaf ears IMHO. Edited January 13, 2012 by Mr. Lee

[Bruce]

Hope it works out well. Leading a horse to water is not hard... making him drink is another matter.BUT! Money talks. As much as 'we', well most of us... ok a few of us, are bothered by the concept of bribes and graft, 'if' a connected family in the Philippines were to open a retirement facility.... that might cause some doors to open and some laws to change in favor of making it EASY to travel and STAY in the Philippines without hoops to jump thru.As for medicare, 'if' the people running it were to approach the concept that it is easier to have Americans travel to the Philippines for treatment, it will actually save them many millions of dollars.

[MikeB]

The SRRV minimum requirement for retirement pension is $800/single and $1000/married, not $1500. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you wrote?

[JJReyes]

Hi MikeB,You are correct. I checked the PRA website. SRRV Classic is, "Show proof of monthly pension remitted to the Philippines (US$800.00 for single applicant and US$1,000.00 for married couples)." SRRV Human Touch is, "Show proof of monthly pension remitted to the Philippines equal to at least US$1,500.00." The 1st Philippine Retirement and Healthcare Summit was held April 12, 2011 at the Dusit Thani Hotel. I plan to attend if they have another one this year. If anyone has influential contacts, one idea to circulate is that the Philippine entry visa should be 90 days. The United States has a reciprocal "visa waiver" program with a number of countries including Japan. This means Americans can travel to Japan and vice-versa, Japanese can come to the United States without a visa up to 90 days. Our family owned real estate company in Honolulu has been a beneficiary because Japanese retirees purchase or rent condos to winter in the Hawaiian Islands. Similarly, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese retirees may want to winter in the Philippine to play golf, go to the beach, and escape the harsh winter months in their own country. This idea might interest the Secretary of Tourism. They like to count visitor arrivals, but what is more important is how many nights they stay.JJR

[Art2ro]

​I don't get either while the opportunity is staring the Philippine Government right in the face! How can it not benefit the Philippine Government? That's the main reason for them passing their own law like the Immigration Act of 2009! So, put their handy work in motion and get on the band wagon for goodness sake Noynoy, I mean Mr. President, sir!

[Tatoosh]

There are reportedly a few hospitals that will accept some Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance. I know that I negotiated with the Notre Dame Hospital in Baguio City to accept my FEP (Federal Employ Program) Blue Cross which I used twice. I paid only the required co-payment and they billed Blue Cross, but only after Blue Cross sent a letter of guarantee prior to the surgery. Tatoosh

[Art2ro]

There are reportedly a few hospitals that will accept some Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance. I know that I negotiated with the Notre Dame Hospital in Baguio City to accept my FEP (Federal Employ Program) Blue Cross which I used twice. I paid only the required co-payment and they billed Blue Cross, but only after Blue Cross sent a letter of guarantee prior to the surgery. Tatoosh

Lucky lucky you! TRICARE, our military health care system in the Philippines have been trying to get that back for many years, to no avail! So I say again! Lucky lucky you that you got the hospital there in Baguio to bill your Blue Cross health care plan in the U.S.! Maybe it's because that you are just the one out of many who haven't yet screwed over your medical health care provider over the years! TRICARE guarantees payments, but most hospitals find it that it takes too long to get reimbursed and for far much less what was billed to TRICARE! So, most doctors and hospitals opted out of the program! One other thing, you still probably pay hefty monthly premiums on your family health care coverage from the U.S. like we once had before I turned 60 3 yrs ago, where as our TRICARE overseas has no required monthly premiums to pay, just the co-payment/cost share via reimbursement claims only in the Philippines, (it wasn't like that in the past when our health care providers were doing the billing directly to TRICARE), because it's our earned benefit for active duty and retired military when residing overseas, but when one turns 65, we are required to pay a monthly premium of $119 for Medicare Part B in order to retain our TRICARE health care coverage! Guess what? Medicare can not be used in the Philippines! Now go figure that out, but as I understand it, TRICARE will pick up the cost of Medicare overseas only for the military! There are service organizations that have been and are still fighting for our hard earned benefits that Congress has been trying to mess with over the years and today! Edited January 15, 2012 by Art2ro

[Bruce]

With medicare not being used in the Philippines, it is simply another poorly thought out plan. If the US gub'ment was smart (oxymoronic in nature) they would have C147s or current model flying daily in and out of the US to Phils! Full of sick kanos for low cost treatment in the Phils. They could attach themselves to a med school there and fund the school and have a real savings!

[Tatoosh]

I think JJR's article is very well done and quite to the point. If the Philippines wanted to stay on the safe side financially, they should work out a special agreement with the government for payment of the medical expenses. Sadly, the long history of systemic corruption in the Philippines will tend to offset the attraction of the lower medical costs found here for the government.Plus there is a trend away from looking to the West here in the Philippines. Nationalistic politicians have been distancing themselves from the USA since the '90's and are even more oriented toward China and other Asian countries. So while the medical establishment might want the business, many politicians are not interested in sidling up to the USA anymore or negotiating some sort of agreement for payment. But I would love to see it happen if it was feasible.I do have some doubts about bringing cranky aging folks in need of medical help and what sort of experience that would be for both sides. It takes some adapting to live here. Some folks do it without too much probem, but others do not. I know a number of medically needy folks here that only want to go home. If they could get medical help here at no or very low cost that might change, but I am not sure it would for all of them, or even for most of them.I know an older Swiss guy that was brought here to live out his life and he was very unhappy even though he did have excellent care and two or three full care takers so there was someone there 24 hours a day for him plus his Swiss son and the son's Filipina wife. And the father was not a happy camper, even with that level of care, much greater than his family could have afforded in Switzerland.But I do salute JJR's excellent research. All my naysaying aside, the costs of living and medical care here makes the idea interesting and for the right people with good connections, maybe something that could benefit both the Philippines and the USA.Tatoosh

Edited January 15, 2012 by Tatoosh