PhilHealth rate increase for foreigners

[mogo51]

On 2/21/2017 at 5:22 PM, sonjack2847 said:

Yes Tim maybe for a 1/3 more premium you could get insurance to cover yourself.Not your spouse or children,from a better supplier.

Hi Kev,

Can you give details of this, as I will arrive after 1/7/17, I will look at this alternative.

[AlwaysRt]

3 hours ago, Gerald Glatt said:

Will the 17000 cover the family or must Fe get her own 2400 policy?

Yes, however. As I said in post #34 "Due to the restrictions in the benefits of foreigner members (Benefits, page 3), both my wife and I will have accounts, keeping her "Z-Benefit package" and "Special Privileges of Women About To Give Birth (WATGB)" coverage."

You have family coverage but their benefits are also reduced, for the family to have the "Z-Benefit package" and the WATGB coverage they need a separate account. 

[AlwaysRt]

22 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I think I shall wait until after the July 1 implementation date to decide if it will be implemented  Many things in Philippines do not work the way they are written but this may be the one that sticks (it to the foreigners).

My concern is that this decree seems to have been rushed through by "acting president and CEO RAMON F ARISTOZA JR." back in January.  So I have to wonder who died and made him the boss as the President and CEO of PhilHealth seems to be a new person, Dr. Celestina Ma. Jude P. De la Serna , who may or may not enable these changes:

By paying ahead you are covered until Jan 2020 (in my case for p4800 since I already paid for 2017). If the circular is rescinded, I just paid really early and you continue as normal. If it is upheld, then I am covered until 2020 (and have until then to make the decision to continue or not) but you either get hit by the increase for 2018/2019 or drop out this year.

It does seem changes and definitely additional rules are required to keep the change, especially how it affects the 120 month premium requirement to qualify for the Lifetime, over 60 program.

[OnMyWay]

11 minutes ago, AlwaysRt said:

3 hours ago, Gerald Glatt said:

Will the 17000 cover the family or must Fe get her own 2400 policy?

Yes, however. As I said in post #34 "Due to the restrictions in the benefits of foreigner members (Benefits, page 3), both my wife and I will have accounts, keeping her "Z-Benefit package" and "Special Privileges of Women About To Give Birth (WATGB)" coverage."

You have family coverage but their benefits are also reduced, for the family to have the "Z-Benefit package" and the WATGB coverage they need a separate account.

 

1 hour ago, mogo51 said:

Hi Kev,

Can you give details of this, as I will arrive after 1/7/17, I will look at this alternative.

I have the latest Pacific Cross brochure.  With permission from the mods I could post it up.

At my age, 60, Pacific Cross Select Standard is 33,968 per year for private room.  Select Plus is 45,981.  Prices for private are a lot higher than semi-private.  20,077 and 23,714, respectively.

I will use an agent to buy Pacific Cross.  Price is the same and he is recommended by other expats (he is an expat).  He can help a lot when there is a claim.

[Dave Hounddriver]

8 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

he is recommended by other expats (he is an expat)

Mod's permission 

Feel free to share any general information or web sites from Pacific Cross but (as a mod) I am reluctant to say carte blance that you could give contact info to an expat who is an agent for Pacific Cross.  Why?  Because there are certain former members and even new members who have been banned or put on moderation when they appear to be getting free advertising from this site and contributing nothing back.

So the information is HUGELY helpful and welcome whereas the individual agent would need to be approved by JGF, in advance, before posting his name or contact info.  Hope that helps!

[OnMyWay]

11 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Mod's permission 

Feel free to share any general information or web sites from Pacific Cross but (as a mod) I am reluctant to say carte blance that you could give contact info to an expat who is an agent for Pacific Cross.  Why?  Because there are certain former members and even new members who have been banned or put on moderation when they appear to be getting free advertising from this site and contributing nothing back.

So the information is HUGELY helpful and welcome whereas the individual agent would need to be approved by JGF, in advance, before posting his name or contact info.  Hope that helps!

No, I was not planning on posting his info.

All the brochures are right here:

http://www.pacificcross.com.ph/#medical

The one I was going to post is the same as the Select on that link.

 

[OnMyWay]

7 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

The one I was going to post is the same as the Select on that link.

I take that back.  The prices are higher on the web site brochure.  I will assume that those are current and that the hard copy brochure from the agent is outdated.

I was wondering if the prices for the private insurers would go up, given the Philhealth situation.  Seems like an opportunity for them to raise prices.

[sonjack2847]

I have just seen this and thought I would post it here.JPs wife is going to inquire later so he may have some more to add.

My wife just spoke to Phil Health in regards to this July 1st increase. They told us that ALL foreigners will be required to have their OWN policy as we already know. Now, I hate to be a kill joy but....
Philhealth said "yes" you can prepay up to 3yrs for a total of 7200 Php but as of July 1st the amount will automatically go up and that prepaid amount will be deducted from the 15 or 17k Php amount, if you have your own policy.
If you are on your wife's policy you will no longer be covered unless you get your own policy and the money you prepaid will pay for her policy for 3 yrs without you as a dependent . There is no exemption of paying the 15 or 17 Php by prepaying the 3 yrs. Come July first you must have the policy in your own name at the full rate in order for you to be covered. 
I sure hope I'm wrong but this is also coming from Philhealth. All I can say is let us wait and see come July 1st to prove it either way.

[mogo51]

1 hour ago, sonjack2847 said:

I have just seen this and thought I would post it here.JPs wife is going to inquire later so he may have some more to add.

My wife just spoke to Phil Health in regards to this July 1st increase. They told us that ALL foreigners will be required to have their OWN policy as we already know. Now, I hate to be a kill joy but....
Philhealth said "yes" you can prepay up to 3yrs for a total of 7200 Php but as of July 1st the amount will automatically go up and that prepaid amount will be deducted from the 15 or 17k Php amount, if you have your own policy.
If you are on your wife's policy you will no longer be covered unless you get your own policy and the money you prepaid will pay for her policy for 3 yrs without you as a dependent . There is no exemption of paying the 15 or 17 Php by prepaying the 3 yrs. Come July first you must have the policy in your own name at the full rate in order for you to be covered. 
I sure hope I'm wrong but this is also coming from Philhealth. All I can say is let us wait and see come July 1st to prove it either way.

They are moving the same way here in Thailand regarding health insurance.

Kev, is 'On my way' brochure, the same company you were referring to?  That price is quite reasonable for private health cover, by today's standards.

[AlwaysRt]

2 hours ago, sonjack2847 said:

I sure hope I'm wrong but this is also coming from Philhealth. All I can say is let us wait and see come July 1st to prove it either way.

The problem with waiting comes in with the cost/benefit.

1)don't wait, pay now. 3 years @p2,400 = p7,200   outcome a)you are covered at p2,400/yr until Jan 2020   outcome b)you have made a downpayment of p2,400/year and need to pay another 15,000/yr to keep the coverage   outcome c)you made a down payment and ain't gonna pay an extra 15,000/yr and lost p7,200

2)wait and see what happens   outcome a)decide if you want to pay p17,000/yr, if not you have no downpayment to lose   outcome b)the coverage you could have gotten for p7,200 is now p51,000 and lost p43,800 in savings.

so on the down side, p7,200 downpayment vs p43,800 in savings

of course they can decide to do anything they want, however, once paid you are in a contract for coverage - a contract they have to break without cause to hit you with a higher premium. This is the Philippines but the law still is a "thing".