by Klaus Doring
I am lucky! When I moved to the Philippines for good in 1999, I was still able to get some very good health insurance plans: critical illness, accident, death because of accident etcetera etcetera… . But I also joined PhilHealth for example.
I informed several other expats and (Filipino) friends of mine about it. One of them became also very lucky. He has been hospitalized and needed a blood transfusion. In told him about the last statement of Dr. Rey B. Aquino, President and CEO of PhilHealth: “In keeping with its thrust objective of providing its members with responsive benefits, blood transfusions done even as an outpatient is now being paid for by the state run Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). This took effect on all claims for outpatient blood transfusions starting February 1 2010.
It should be clarified that while purchase of blood is not included in the benefit, all medically-necessary drugs and medicines used during the transfusion shall be compensated in addition to the usual blood donor screening test.
Anyway, being a PhilHealth member is a must – also for expats living here.
I mentioned it already in own of my previous columns: expats living in the Philippines permanently, are also entitled to apply for a Senior Citizen Card. Senior citizens benefits from special discounts in special programs, also and especially when it comes to health care. Visit your nearest cityhall and look for the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs.
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Last but not least on the spot: Finally the European leaders agreed an Euro stabilization package. After 11 hours of talks, the finance ministers settled on this package. It has been permanent measures worth 750 billion EURO (964 billion US$) to stabilize the currency. For the sake of our world economy: I wish and pray, it will work!
Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino has said: “The good we do is never lost. Some of it remains, if not in material goods, then in a deeper experience, a more practice hand, and a spirit made stronger by that which failed to break it – stronger to meet greater challenges ahead!”
Email me: doringklaus@gmail.com or visit www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or follow me in Facebook.
