Is Philippines really that cheap?

I am flattered you observing me so much

 

But if you buy insurance, look closely at coverage limits. You need .5M to 1M to cover major surgeries. Also, if over 65 it is hard to find local insurance that will pay the hospital directly unless you go fir the most expensive “dollar” plans; for some reason they like for you to first pay hospital etc. and they reimburse you later (which may cause serious issues when you try to check out of the hospital). In such cases you need the cash in hand anyway. Significantly, I do see that Silliman does accept foreign VISA/MC credit cards. I have used my VISA card there for a few lower cost procedures. For higher bills, their admitting office can give details. I believe I have heard that Holy Child may not accept credit cards. If you have a CC with high limit, that also can be considered a form of emergency financing, at least (perhaps) at SUMC (Silliman) which is arguably the better of the two. On the other extreme would be Provincial hospital. I brought our helper there once because they will pay her PhilHealth with zero balance, unlike the better hospitals who do not accept the low PhilHealth reimbursements for 100% payment. However, upon entering and seeing what it looked like inside the patient area, it became clear that I could not leave her there so we went to Silliman. That is not to say the treatment is bad. It is what it is and of course it is not similar to western hospital conditions. Silliman is similar.


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Thanks for your advice, @djfinn6230.

I am not going to buy an insurance at this stage. Actually I am quiet well covered by an insurer where I am client since almost 60 years. I don't want to give that up. Onky thing I will do is to adjust the package to the situation in the Philippines when it becomes necessary.

 

Well, it's quite expected that themes will repeat themselves here. New people sign up and long-termers move on for various reasons. The problems and solutions of living here don't change that much over time. Newbies simply are not interested in starting with "thread one" and reading the entire archive for the Dumagueteinfo.com forum just to be sure not to repeat oneself.

I think many (most?) of us try a search before posing a question, but that often leads to much time wasted reading essentially irrelevant posts. It's easier to just ask. If one gets offended, sign off.

 

Heading for Phil again next month. Not looking forward to the two things that significantly raises the cost of living in Phil. The cost of electricity (aircon uses a lot) is arguably the highest in S.E. Asia (and unreliable too), and healthy food is something that you need to go to expensive foreign restaurants to get, (Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Mediterranean, Vegan, Vegetarian, et al). Does anyone know of areas where electricity is reasonable and reliable, and healthy foreign food is affordable and conveniently available? Not complaining, just looking for suggestions that may address those concerns.

 

Meralco (Manila), VECO (Cebu) and Noreco (Negros Island) are roughly about the same. Difference in cost per kwh is minimal. I do find Meralco a lot more reliable than VECO and VECO heaps better than Noreco. Forget Noreco for it is absolute crap.

As for healthy food choices here in Dumaguete, I have yet to find a proper Japanese restaurant nor a good Thai one. You get a lot more variety over in Cebu and Manila for sure, but the cost of living won’t be the same.

 

I live in Thailand and have lived in the Philippines before. We still travel to the Philippines on holiday. In my opinion, due to the rising cost of living in Thailand, I would have to say that the Philippines is less costly. Food is cheaper and western alcohol bought in retail stores is about half the price it is in Thailand. Rents in Thailand or course depend on where you live. But, it has gone up in recent years. That might be changing though as more expats are leaving Thailand for other SEA countries. The exchange rate in the Philippines is much more favorable than Thailand.

 

When you have dollars and you buy and pay things in pesos, that's going to come out cheap.

 

Try the market in Dumaguete, plenty of Cheap fruit and veg, for meat try Belcris.