I could be thinking too much while we're waiting (dum de dum)...

I am curious if anyone here has thought about health insurance for their fiancee and family in the Philippines. One of my concerns is that if anyone in her family becomes seriously ill (or if she does while we wait) it will likely be up to me to decide to help pay for the medical expenses since her family would not have the money.

Since I don't want to be in the position of making this decision (and I'm not sure I could afford it), I am thinking of buying insurance for her and her family. I think they have a minimal insurance policy (Philhealth) which doesn't seem to cover much from what I can tell. Does anyone have any experience with any other sorts of policies? Has anyone else thought about this? (I couldn't find a thread) Any ideas? or do I worry too much?

Thanks,

-- Jeff

I don't have an answer for you, but I just wanted to say how thoughtful you are to do this for your fiance's family.

Maybe it is a Filipino custom, but I know most of us here on VJ don't have the worry of supplying medical insurance for our families in our home countries.

Good luck for a speedy approval.

Filipinos are a hardy bunch, we seldom get sick so most people don't even bother with health insurance (well, aside from the fact that most Filipinos cannot afford insurance too).

At any rate, it doesn't cost much to be hospitalized in the Philippines. To give you an idea, my father was hospitalized for 3 nights/4 days for being diabetic in September last year. We put him in a small private room (cost: $24/day). Total hospital bill came up to P25,000 ($500) and that included the doctor's fee, ECG, lab tests, blood test, medicines, etc. After deducting Philhealth (about $70) and senior citizen's discount of 20% ($100), my family ended up paying only around $370.

The bill would be cheaper if the patient stays in a ward ($6~$10/day). The doctor's fee would be lower too if patient stays in the ward. It's like the doctors here have socialized billing ~ they bill lower fees to those who stay in the ward and bill higher to those who can afford a private room.

Now, if my Dad was in America, the $370 bill we paid would probably just be the bill for the cotton ball used for his injection!!! I kid you not!!!

Thanks for the responses and best wishes! I'm not sure if I'm being nice or just looking out for my own self interest, but these aren't mutually exclusive.

Even though medical costs are much lower than in the US, a catastrophic event would still be quite a drain I imagine. I'll do some more investigation. I guess I'm a little surprised I'm the only one concerned about this, but maybe I think too much and need to relax more.

Try one of these groups, they may be able to give you some info. You will have to join to post:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Expats-in-Cagayan-de-Oro/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Philippine_L...sland_Paradise/