Health Issues....on Keeping Credit Cards Open In The States

[redhorse]

Have enjoyed reading your posts here. I'll be retiring in a few years there. Just read a thread talking about keeping your credit card account open here in the states. In this thread there was a gentleman who paid for his stay in a hospital in P.I....$10,000 worth with his AMEX.My question to the members here is: When faced with major health issues such as the gentleman who paid with AMEX, do you consider returning to the states to have the procedure done with insurance?I'll be retiring in P.I. in a couple of years and that Health and hospitalizations are my most concerned with.thank you. good luck Redhorse

[MikeB]

I believe that was me. It wasn't an Amex card I used to pay the hospital bills, it was another US-based debit card, either Mastercard or Visa. A lot of places here don't take Amex but a lot more take it now then did a few years ago. I wouldn't count on using Amex. I did mention that I paid my Blue Cross annual premium with Amex so maybe that's the confusion. My insurance plan excludes US coverage because I took a 25% discount to exclude it. I was in no shape to be traveling anywhere, let alone to the other side of the world. I wouldn't have gone anyway, I had complete faith in my doctors at Chong Hua. You are right to be concerned, it's a huge issue, could easily be the difference between life and death for you or your loved ones.Edit: My apologies, it was an Amex card I used to pay most of the hospital bill so they do take it. I put most of it on Amex, the remainder on the MC.

Edited February 28, 2012 by MikeB

[Dave Hounddriver]

My question to the members here is: When faced with major health issues such as the gentleman who paid with AMEX, do you consider returning to the states to have the procedure done with insurance?

I do have two very good American friends who did exactly that. Both on pensions of about 1,000 US a month. Both between 65 and 70. Neither are members here so I will relate their experiences.Bill developed cancer. He flew back to the US for treatment on an insurance basis. He was there for 3 months. They said there was nothing more they could do for him and he would have received similar care here. In a very frail state, he hopped on a plane, with a doctor accompanying him, and returned to Philippines to die. He lasted 3 more weeks but was among friends when he passed.'Joe' (name changed because he is still living) was told by Chung Hua that he would have to have his prostate removed and a couple other things. He flew back to the US for treatment on an insurance basis. He was there for 4 months. In that time they did nothing to his prostate except shake their heads at the foolish diagnosis. Then they proceeded to give him a quintuple heart bypass operation and install some kind of electrical device in his chest to stimulate the heart in event of heart attack. He has been back here and living happily, with no further medical complications, for 2 years now.

[redhorse]

Yeah guys. I wouldn't know what to do. Since I don't have a family here and my closest pals also will be residing in S.E.A., I wouldn't have anyone to turn to ......lets say if I were to return to the states for treatments or an operation of some kind.Oh boy. Thank God for my health but I'm still young...early 50'sthank you Redhorse can't get rid of this underlining thing

[Call me bubba]

Have enjoyed reading your posts here. I'll be retiring in a few years there. Just read a thread talking about keeping your credit card account open here in the states. In this thread there was a gentleman who paid for his stay in a hospital in P.I....$10,000 worth with his AMEX.My question to the members here is: When faced with major health issues such as the gentleman who paid with AMEX, do you consider returning to the states to have the procedure done with insurance?I'll be retiring in P.I. in a couple of years and that Health and hospitalizations are my most concerned with.thank you. good luck Redhorse

DONT close your US credit cards, it is your "credit history" once thats closed , It can be hard as HxLL to reopen or restart your credit history,Do look at some type of LOCAL health insurance ,remember if you have PRE-EXISTING health issues, it can be hard or expensive to get coverage here,If you have read, some members just use savings or THE credit card to pay off on any health care treatments,to each his own,Do what you think is best, by reading the other topics/posts..I am sure it will give you a better idea of what is best for your circumstances

[MikeB]

'Joe' (name changed because he is still living) was told by Chung Hua that he would have to have his prostate removed and a couple other things. He flew back to the US for treatment on an insurance basis. He was there for 4 months. In that time they did nothing to his prostate except shake their heads at the foolish diagnosis. Then they proceeded to give him a quintuple heart bypass operation and install some kind of electrical device in his chest to stimulate the heart in event of heart attack. He has been back here and living happily, with no further medical complications, for 2 years now.

Glad to hear he is recovering despite his apparent misdiagnosis at the hospital in Cebu. In my case, the medical situation was caused by an accident, not long or short-term health problems. In cases like that you may not have the option of returning to the 1st world and be forced to have emergency medical intervention here in the RP. Although the facilities at Chong Hua are overall not at the level of most major western hospitals, my experience with the doctors was that they certainly are and I had several, each a different specialty (ortho, pulmonary, hemotology, etc). I also found the overall care at all levels was far more attentive and caring then what I have experienced in the US.

[billten]

This topic touches on my biggest fear living here in the Philippines. IME the medical system here is truly awful; mis-diagnosis abounds and diagnosis that suit the doctor's pocket-book is endemic. I am petrified that some day i'll need serious medical care and come under the advice of a doctor who simply sees me as a turkey, ready to be plucked. And, unlike most of my day-to-day issues, this one isn't going anywhere or getting lesser.All i can do is try to find a few reliable and less greedy doctors, who i can possibly turn to in the event of an emergency. If anyone does have a good solution to this issue, i would love to to hear it.BTW, i have held off telling war stories of horrible and often fatal mis-diagnosis by the inept medical system, as i don't think they are very helpful to this thread; but if some of you more morbid souls feel the need, i can recount them in detail :-(

[Call me bubba]

I am petrified that some day i'll need serious medical care and come under the advice of a doctor who simply sees me as a turkey, ready to be plucked. :chickendance:And, unlike most of my day-to-day issues, this one isn't going anywhere or getting lesser. All i can do is try to find a few reliable and less greedy doctors, who i can possibly turn to in the event of an emergency.If anyone does have a good solution to this issue, i would love to to hear it.

you have not heard or read this before in the forum, in the Philippines. there are doctors who have had some training or educational experience outside of the country,Try to locate 1 of these doctors , either thru the Medical society,the hospital or from 1 of the embassy websites .from this list you should be able to find a qualified doctor.Plan ahead by having a Doctor that you can have a "good" rapport one that you FEEL comfortable with,yes your correct that some doctors may see you as "cash cow" or an answer to their child's college tuition .that's why its important to KNOW your doctor my child's pediatrician and dentist both have US training it was hard to find such doctors at 1st,but the look/search was well worth it, I feel very comfortable with them, I patronize them & refer if possible as they had the foresight to get that extra training( 1st world) to help them succeed here off note post.we seem to know more about where to get the best exchange rate, or where to get the best.....(what ever)as we spend time looking for whats best for me/you/us,BUT very few seems to spend the same amount of time looking for a well qualified health care provider.(be it dentist,doctor ,nurse ,hospital.clinic ... etc) Edited March 1, 2012 by Call me Bubba

[MikeeW]

Redhorse, If you already have insurance while in the US, it may still cover some of your costs here. In fact, some insurance companies consider overseas treatments as PPO (preferred provider organizations) and allow for the better coverage. Medicare will not cover you here, as far as I know. However, you can still get Medicare coverage for procedures done in the US (if you went back for that). It depends upon your eligibility. There are excellent doctors and clinics here. I can speak highly of care provided at Chung Hua and of some specific doctors. I'm sure others have info on doctors who have been at each end of the spectrum. Costs are cheaper, but I did have an amazing discovery recently about costs and professional care. I was making inquiries about some eye care. I used a couple of websites set up just for medical tourism, in asia. The website gave me choices of several asian countries, RP and Singapore among them. I did my research with a few locations in Singapore. These impressed me with the professional manner of informing the public, costs, details on procedures etc. The only problem with Singapore is the restrictive nature of their laws, so some things end up costing extra, such as any sort of "medical certificate". Long story short, they charge for everything, and you need to ask first. Prices were cheaper than equivalent in the US.I also contacted two clinics in Manila referred to by the medical tourism website. One never really replied to me, but just suggested I come in. Not sure how that was an option for "medical tourism". The other clinic replied, but I was very disappointed in the tag-team manner in which they handled my inquiries. I got a quick response at first, but was referred directly to the physician. I had expected to have staff handle my queries. He was the head of the department, so he passed me along to one of his specialists. That got nowhere and when I made a follow up inquiry, the head of the department apologized for using the wrong email address. Then, I did get a response from the specialist, and he apologized as he was on vacation, his email working fine. The head physician came back into the loop and apologized again for the "mix up" and told me the specialist was in training. The story goes on, but you get the idea. The cost of their procedure was spot on to the same procedures in the US. Not sure how this would entice a medical tourist, to travel here and spend the same.My point in all of this is that medical care is definitely a "let the buyer beware" situation. You need to be a sceptic at all times. With regard to your query about having a means to pay with credit card, it is a wise plan to retain a credit card in the US if you can. It is possible to get one here. Medical care is essentially a cash and carry business. Pay as you go and show the receipt to the security when you leave sort of thing.