Phil Health

[mogo51]

Good morning all,

 

A question, can I join Phil Health when I arrive in 12 months or so.  I know my s.o. can but am I allowed as I

cannot marry her as she is still legally married and divorce costs are out of the park.

 

If so, what is the benefits of doing so and is it suitable for us?  Will existing conditions be barred?

[virginprune]

You can join Phil Health on a tourist visa once you have got your ACR card, after your second extension. There are no questions about any existing ailments!

The benefits are that you can cut a certain amount of medical fees off your bill but only if you have been an inpatient for 24 hours. Bottom line is that it will save you money!

Edited January 22, 2016 by virginprune

[stevewool]

Every little helps they say

[bows00]

This is one area that I overlooked.  I didn't realize how much my health plan is going to cost me after retirement.  I am currently a US government worker so most of my health care is being paid by Uncle Sam.  However, upon retirement, it is going to cost me approximately $500US per month to maintain the plan. 

 

If I eventually make the move to the Philippines, do you think it will be worth keeping my US plan?  Or just switch over to phil health?

[Dave Hounddriver]

Nothing more to add to what Virginprune said except  :tiphat:

[mogo51]

Nothing more to add to what Virginprune said except  :tiphat:

 

I do not see any averages in paying $100 week as there are much cheaper options around for around $1000US per annum or the much cheaper option of Phil Health.

But what is being said is do not compare medical health in US with Phils, you get what you pay for, but depending upon your age, that is an important factor.  By the time I get there I will be approaching 67, think life is a lottery and will take the punt.

[robert k]

If you lived where the very best of Philippine medical care was to be had and had a top of the line Philippine insurance plan with a suite of private rooms if you were ever admitted, you might want them to keep you for observation for 25 years or so and after that, see how it goes. I think $6k per year would buy you a heck of a plan...but you have to be near the best medical care or it would mean nothing. I haven't looked in any ambulances in Manila but I know that many places they are just a van and you still need to get to that best medical care available. There have been threads on Philippine insurance and they looked very reasonable to me. I suggest searching them, then online for the latest rates and coverage.

 

I did experience the hospitality of a provincial clinic on Mindoro after a spill as a passenger on a motorcycle and lost a good patch of skin to the road rash which promptly became infected because it was a gravel road that carabao had been pooping on for generations. At the provincial clinic they debrided the infected wound the size of a large mans hand with no anasthetic. In the states they would have at least filled a syringe with some Lidocaine  and sprayed it topically and injected a little for good measure. Nope, I borrowed a syringe and bit down on it while they skinned me alive :thumbsup: . Philippine medicine does have it's strangely advanced points though. I stayed overnight in a private room getting IV antibiotics and they had no problem with my GF sharing the bed with me. The US could learn a few things. :tiphat:

 

The clinic, I don't think there was anything better within 3 hours drive, the second story had burned, never repaired just blocked off and there did not seem to be any plans to repair it. They just crowded everyone in on the ground floor. Know what you are likely to get before you need it.

 

If you are going to live in the Philippines, do you think that an excellent medical plan in the US will do any more for you than the best Philippine plan you can get locally? I think not unless it is non-emergency and you run back. If it's non-emergency, I would let them cut on me or whatever at St. Lukes in Manila, I would find out what insurance they take and remember that when you (meaning me) are a few islands away, you take your chances.

[davewe]

You can join Phil Health on a tourist visa once you have got your ACR card, after your second extension. There are no questions about any existing ailments!

The benefits are that you can cut a certain amount of medical fees off your bill but only if you have been an inpatient for 24 hours. Bottom line is that it will save you money!

If your Filipina wife signs up for the family aren't you covered - or do you still have to wait till after the 2nd extension?

[earthdome]

This is one area that I overlooked.  I didn't realize how much my health plan is going to cost me after retirement.  I am currently a US government worker so most of my health care is being paid by Uncle Sam.  However, upon retirement, it is going to cost me approximately $500US per month to maintain the plan. 

 

If I eventually make the move to the Philippines, do you think it will be worth keeping my US plan?  Or just switch over to phil health?

 

Are you sure that is the monthly premium for a retired employee or is that the cost under COBRA? The combination of my age plus years of service determined how much of my health insurance my employer paid for after I retired. Go to HR and talk to a retirement specialist.

 

When I retired from a public employer I had the choice of what health plans to use and my employer pays part of the cost.

I chose a catastrophic plan which includes a tax deductible HSA which I used in the Philippines. I paid for my health care then got reimbursed from insurance or my HSA. I had to make the choice of what I wanted when I retired and once I made the choice I could not change it. Except perhaps to cancel insurance.

 

Once I reach 65 my employer retirement health care basically turns into a Pard D plan as a supplement to Medicare.

[virginprune]

You can join Phil Health on a tourist visa once you have got your ACR card, after your second extension. There are no questions about any existing ailments!

The benefits are that you can cut a certain amount of medical fees off your bill but only if you have been an inpatient for 24 hours. Bottom line is that it will save you money!

If your Filipina wife signs up for the family aren't you covered - or do you still have to wait till after the 2nd extension?

I am advising how it works for an unmarried person, as the OP requested advice on. If you are married I'm fairly sure that you will be covered on a family policy straight away. Maybe a married person on here can confirm that.