Moving to the Philippines - this is the more relevant forum :)

[TizMe]

I have personal experience with both St Lukes in BGC, and Makati Medical.

Both are excellent, as good as any hospital back home.

I had angioplasty surgery at Makati Med in 2016.
Total bill was over PHP 800,000.
I was covered by Cigna and was never asked to open my wallet once.
They just called Cigna and got pre-approval.

I have heard of some other insurers that are very reluctant to honour their commitments.

[katie23]

^will you still be covered by Cigna when you retire? If not, may I ask what's your plan re: health insurance? (if you don't mind)

Also, are you prohibited from doing strenuous tasks like running/ sprinting, etc?

This thread could help Simon and/or other ppl who may be thinking of moving/ retiring in PH.

*****
I know of 2 foreign vloggers who were hospitalized in PH. Both of them were relatively young and both used Safety Wing Nomad Insurance. (I'm not affiliated with them but I sometimes see Safety Wing advertised in travel vlogs).

One guy was in his 30s and he had surgery for hernia, I think. His bill (surgery + around 1 week hospital stay) was 300k+ (around 5,400 usd). This was in St Lukes or Medical City (can't remember). His insurance was accepted outright by the hospital.

Another guy (in his 20s) was hospitalized due to covid. He was living in Mindanao then. He was confined in a small, private hospital. At first his insurance didn't want to cover him (he had bought his insurance very recently prior to getting ill). So he paid his hospital bill out of pocket. I think it reached 100k+ pesos (~2000 usd). After lots of calls & emails, his insurance pulled through & refunded his expenses.

[BLD]

What's the reputation of Bupa insurance in the Philippines? In Thailand it seemed quite positive
After I left the minrsite in Lao I wasn't covered anymore so got bupa. Didn't put it to the test though

[katie23]

^I had to Google BUPA since I'm not familiar with that company - it's not famous here. Accdg to Googs, it's considered as a 3rd party/ foreign insurer, so some hospitals may not accept it. Some smaller hospitals don't accept foreign insurers since they don't like to deal with the paperwork. Asian Hospital accepts it and I assume that the big 3 in Manila do too (St Lukes, Makati Med, Medical City).

If Simon was to get health insurance, I'd advise him to deal with a well-known company here in PH. I have friends/ acquaintances who are insurance agents, so can link him up with them.

As an alternative, he could also get one from AXA PH online. I got travel insurance from AXA for a short trip to Taiwan. (PH govt was still requiring insurance for its outbound citizens at that time.) I paid via credit card & got the PDF of the policy the next day.

[TizMe]

^will you still be covered by Cigna when you retire? If not, may I ask what's your plan re: health insurance? (if you don't mind)

Also, are you prohibited from doing strenuous tasks like running/ sprinting, etc?

No, I'll lose my Cigma coverage when I retire, and I believe its quite expensive to go private with them.
AXA and Pacific Cross seem to be the favourite choices for full cover here.

Another option is to just bank the equivalent of the premium and just pay into PhilHealth.

I haven't been able to run or sprint since I smashed my knee in a motorcycle accident over 40 years ago.

Other than that, I'm still quite healthy. Walk and swim quite a bit.

[katie23]

^thanks for the reply.

Re: AXA health insurance, I know another Aussie guy who has it. AFAIK he hasn't put it to the test since he hasn't been majorly ill. He went to Aus when he needed surgery.

Re: Philhealth, I think they only allow foreigners who are on marriage or retirement visas. Not sure though, so better check.

I've heard that hospitals (esp private ones) prefer if one has Philhealth or any private insurance, so that they're sure that someone will foot the bill!

The foreigner guy from Dumaguete who had the motorbike accident - he didn't have insurance & the hospital wouldn't accept him until his friend came to pay the deposit.

[Simon43]

^I had to Google BUPA since I'm not familiar with that company - it's not famous here. Accdg to Googs, it's considered as a 3rd party/ foreign insurer, so some hospitals may not accept it. Some smaller hospitals don't accept foreign insurers since they don't like to deal with the paperwork. Asian Hospital accepts it and I assume that the big 3 in Manila do too (St Lukes, Makati Med, Medical City).

If Simon was to get health insurance, I'd advise him to deal with a well-known company here in PH. I have friends/ acquaintances who are insurance agents, so can link him up with them.

As an alternative, he could also get one from AXA PH online. I got travel insurance from AXA for a short trip to Taiwan. (PH govt was still requiring insurance for its outbound citizens at that time.) I paid via credit card & got the PDF of the policy the next day.

Just a comment that I already have expat health insurance, and have had for many years. How good that is who knows because the last lot (the Frenchie company April International) kicked me out when I claimed for my prostate cancer tests and so I had to return to the UK for tests and finally to get a clean bill of health. So I then signed up with WR Life. Who knows if they will pay up if the need arises - it's all a gamble!

[BLD]

You've just answered your own question simon.that outfit didn't work for you. You need to find one that does. Personally I think when they kicked you out for prostrate problems they have bigger asshole and prostrate problems than you. Get rid of them. Find an insurer more in tune with your lifestyle

[cyrille]

You've just answered your own question simon.that outfit didn't work for you. You need to find one that does.

He already has, he hopes.

Please read more attentively.

[BLD]

How so sibil? Were talking about Simon's blurter. Not yours . He hopes. Being the key words here. Apparently it's all a gamble. Please stfu