One question I hear often, as a foreigner living in the Philippines is, “what will you do if you get sick”? “Medicare doesn’t pay for treatment overseas, you know?”
Yes I certainly know that fact regarding Medicare. I also know that there are thousands of readers here too young for Medicare, not US citizens, etc. I also am one of a large contingent of former US servicemen and women who, because they chose to live in the Philippines are routinely den9ied the care they are supposed to receive under the military TRICARE program.
One obvious solution is to purchase ‘real’ health care insurance from a commercial source, either in the Philippines or from “back home”. I’ve written about commercial hospitalization plans in the Philippines and also places to get quotes on commercial international health care plans.
But what if we took a second look at how to manage medical expenses .. especially if you don’t know how long you will here/live here in the Philippines.
What if you (drum roll please, don’t try this at home if you live in the USA, it’s way too dangerous) were to chose to just pay your own way, medically, here in the Philippines.
We have grown so addicted to high cost health care insurance back in the USA that many of us seem unable to function without massive health care insurance premiums. We also seem to have lost sight of the fact that doctors … at least doctors here in the Philippines … will be happy to see you any time and accept payment in good old cash … no monthly bills, no policy contracts, no denials for pre-existing conditions,l no argument on what tests or services you want. You just ask for whet you decide you need and then pay for it. Works great, folks, I’ve been doing it for years here in the Philippines, folks.
But Dave, I hear you murmuring, that’s all very well and good for you to say, but what if I have a really serious medical problem? or what if I feel I can only get the medical care I need back in the USA?
Or what about those of us who are eligible for Medicare to help us with large bills or long term procedures? We may not have the price of an airline in our pocket on the day we get run over by a Jeepney, you know?
Well, I do have one potential answer for you. It’s pretty cheap, it’s pretty comprehensive, it answers most of the “I wish I had” needs and wants … oh, and shameless promotionalism here, if you investigate it and you do decide to buy the protection, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Think about it.
SafeTrip Travel and Repatriation Insurance
Our most popular program for emergency evacuation, repatriation and worldwide 24-hour medical and personal security assistance for travelers 100 or more miles away from home. This includes U.S. residents traveling within the United States.
- Emergency medical evacuation
- Repatriation of mortal remains
- Repatriation to a licensed medical facility in the home country
- One-way airfare to the place of residence for dependent children left unattended
- A round-trip flight for a family member to the place of hospitalization, if a patient is hospitalized for more than seven days
- FrontierMEDEX Worldwide Travel Assistance Services more info »
SafeTrip Rates
Daily Individual (7 day minimum required)
Age 70 and Under $3.50
Age 71 through 80 $5.25
Annual Frequent Traveler (maximum 90 days per trip)
Age 70 and Under $225.00
Age 71 through 80 $280.00
Annual Expatriate (Travel greater than 90 consecutive days or greater than 180 days in a 12 month period)
Age 70 and Under $350.00
Age 71 through 80 $425.00
Again, this is indeed an ad, and it will piss some people off, but the need is there and many people reading here are “running barefoot” and will have a financial disaster sooner or later, so I still think the programs offered are worthy of your consideration.
One thing I noticed in particular is, this company offers reasonably priced coverage for those up to 80 years old. There are no other plans, especially Philippine-based plans I know of, that even offer coverage up to that age.
As we used to say in the military when we had to send news up to the colonel which he had not asked for, but needed to know anyway …
“ This information is furnished for you information and action as deemed necessary” –>>
Can’t finf the expat on their website.
Crash
Bot sure what I can say, Stan. I just checked the links agin today and either the sidebar ad or the little button at the end of the article will take you right to this page:
http://www.medexassist.com/individuals/GAN/default.aspx?
Where you can either read more (see button at the bottom) or request a no obligation quote (it’s not a gimmick where people will call you up or spam you, just go ahead and look at the prices and coverage.)
Godspeed
Dave. I contacted you by email and asked you some questions about medical evac services in the Philippines, but maybe others would be interested in your answer, so I will ask them here.
I was offered medical evacuation insurance by another service that was very similar to the one that your describe, and at a cheaper, group rate through the Virginia Tech Alumni Association. However, I am wondering what experience or information that you have on whether Travel Medical Insurance or EA+ (the one that was offered to me) actually have evacuation aircraft in the Philippines and what kind of response time to expect.
I looke on the EA+ web site, and it looked like that their air-evac service was out of Malaysia. Of course, it could be that their asian operations were based out of Malaysia, but contracted with air services in the Philippines. I called their customer information number and was assured that they provided air evacuation services in all countries except those on the US State Departments do not travel list, but they could not guarantee the time it would take to reach me.
Maybe you or some of your readers have experince with these services in the Philippines?
Hi Mike, I answered your email direct with more comments. the answer to your direct question is, I don’t know what airplanes either company may own or lease nor where they are based. I recommend you contact each company directly, and get a factual response. Godspeed.
Salamat po..