Live in the Philippines

Live in the Philippines helps expats with visas, moving and other services regarding the Philippines.

How much is heart care in the Philippines?

Health / by

As most readers know, I had a heart attack recently, June 26, 2016 to be precise.

I am having a heart attack
I am having a heart attack

Since that time, I have been inundated with questions from friends and readers… they all want to know, “what does it cost if you have a heart attack in the Philippines?”

While I certainly cannot give an exact number of what it will cost you in every event, since every case is different, I can give you some guidelines and an idea of what you might spend.

Keep in mind that the health care system in the Philippines is more or less a “pay as you go” system.  It is not at all like the USA where your medical insurance covers you, and the billing is all something that you will work out after your are back to being healthy, or at least on that road.  It certainly is not like some of our friends from other countries where the government covers your healthcare costs (although they are using your money to do it).  No, here in the Philippines the cost is something you will have to pay before you leave the hospital and go home, so it is something that you have to monitor and consider each step of the way.

As I said already, each case is different.  How much it costs depends on what caused your heart attack, how much damage was done, and other factors.  In my case, over a period of 5 days I had 3 different times when I had chest pain.  I thought i had experienced 3 heart attacks, but I am told that it was all considered 1 heart attack, because my heart was dealing with the same period of instability.  I entered the hospital during the 3rd episode of pain.  With the first two experiences, I did not think that I was having a heart attack.

Services at the Doctor’s Office

My first action was that I went to visit my doctor on the morning after my second experience of chest pain.  He did an EKG in the office, checked me over and spent some time advising me.  The cost of my normal visits to my Internist is P400.  This visit was a little more, since I had the EKG, I believe that it was P1,000.

The next day, I went in to have a full series of blood tests, a urinalysis, and a 2D Echo-cardiogram.  This was all done at the clinic where my doctor has his office.  The cost of the blood tests and the echo-cardiogram was about P3,000 in all.  Not bad at all.  The doctor visit and tests were all paid out of pocket.  I have PhilHealth, the government health insurance, but that generally only covers covers you if you are hospitalized.  With PhilHealth covering the whole family for just P2,500 per year, it is so cheap that anybody living here would be crazy not to use it.

After all of the tests, and another talk with my doctor, it was a Saturday morning, we decided to get together on Monday for some follow up actions.  The doctor advised me to go check into the hospital, but I declined, thinking that my issue had passed.  I told the doctor that I lived right near the 911 Center, and I would call them for a quick trip to the hospital if I were to experience more chest pain.  My doctor lives in the same neighborhood that I do, and he agreed with my request, because he knows that 911 is quick to respond, and I could be at a great hospital in 10 minutes or less.  Unfortunately, on Sunday I experienced chest pain again, this time much more significant pain, so I ended up in the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

My time at the hospital

Davao Doctor's Hospital
Davao Doctor’s Hospital

All of the hospital services that I received were performed at Davao Doctor’s Hospital.  DDH is the best (and most expensive) hospital in Davao City.  They have a very good heart center there, among the best in the Philippines.

I went into the hospital through the Emergency Room, got some treatment there, was stabilized and then moved to another section of the hospital.  I was in the ER for probably an hour or so.

Next, I went to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit for about 2 1/2 days.  The Cardiac ICU is expensive!  The cost to be in that ICU can be up to P30,000 per day, depending on what services you are using there.

After my time in the ICU, I was taken to the regular “ward” section of the Cardiac Care Center.  I was in a private room at the Cardiac Care Center for 3 1/2 days.

The bill

So, after 6 days in the hospital, roughly half of that time in the Cardiac ICU, how much did it all cost? All expenses listed below are a total for 6 days.  Let’s break it all down:

Room Accomodation: P12,127
Drugs & Medicines: P29,657
X-Ray/Lab: P33,919
Professional Services (My Internist and my Cardiologist): P24,035
Total Cost: P98,838

That is a total cost for 6 days of hospitalization of US$2,102

PhilHealth

PhilHealthI hear a lot of people say “PhilHealth pays half”.  That is simply not true!  A couple of years ago I was in the hospital due to a badly infected insect bite.  In that case, PhilHealth paid close to 70% of the bill.  This time, not so much.  Why the difference?  Well, last time, I went to a lower end hospital because I did not need specialized services.  I was only in the hospital so that I could receive intravenous antibiotics, nothing specialized about that.  So, I felt no need to go to an expensive hospital.  This time, though, I went to the best hospital in this part of the Philippines.  I went to one of the best heart centers in the Philippines, because I wanted the best care to handle a serious problem.  Davao Doctor’s hospital is not cheap, but it is good.  That is what I needed.

PhilHealth pays based on standardized costs.  They also pay different amounts depending on what your health problem is.  Different diagnoses are paid by PhilHealth with different percentages.  Also, the amount paid is based on average costs based on surveys of all of the hospitals.  The more expensive the hospital where you go, the lower the percentage of that “high end” bill will be.

So, based on this, the total bill was P99,838.  PhilHealth’s payment?  P18,900.  Yep, only about 19% of the total bill.

Does it upset me that PhilHealth paid only 19%?  No, not at all.  I went to the best and most expensive place that I could have gone to locally, so it does not surprise me that they paid a low percentage of the bill.  What I do know is that I paid only P2,500 to cover my entire family for 2016, and they already paid nearly 8 times my premium cost to cover just my heart attack.  Also, I have had extensive eye surgery (if you wan to read about my eye issues and 9 eye srugeries read this and this) this year, and PhilHealth has paid more than 70% of those bills.  So, I sure can’t complain about that, in fact I am quite happy with PhilHealth.

So, that covers my hospitalization costs to treat my heart attack.  I had intended that later this week I would be giving more valuable information about extended heart diagnostics and care, information about things like the costs of angiogram testing, angioplasty and bypass surgery in the Philippines.  However, when I started researching the topic, I found that the cost figures I found online were much different than the information that I had been told by my doctor.  Because of this, I will delay that article until I have a chance to personally look into the topic more and get first hand information.  So, keep an eye on the site if that is of interest to you, I will be sharing the information as soon as I am able.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing Bob,and glad that you are recovering.
    Do you feel that the standard of care you received was comparable to what you would have received in the US?
    Would PhilHealth be available for my wife (dual US/Philippine citizenship) and myself(US citizen) if we were staying there on a part time basis,like 2-3 months at a time?

    • Hi Jeff – Yes, I feel completely certain that the quality of care here is excellent. In one way I feel the quality of care here is better than in the USA and that is that it is more personalized. In the USA it has gotten to the point that you are almost just a number… here, you are a person and treated as so.

      Yes, PhilHealth is available to anybody in the Philippines. it does not matter how long you stay, as long as you pay your premium, which is very cheap.

  3. A good hospital is like a good lawyer when you need the best of your monies worth! Why skimp when your life’s on the line? A very good informative articles and so happy you got the best to still be around ♡♡♡

    • Hi Mark – As I said at the end of the article, I am still looking into things, that includes bypass and angioplasty. Give me some time, I will be writing more.

  5. I am a bit surprised to see that Phil Health paid so little.
    My Wife spent 2 nights in San Franz Doctors Hospital Agusan delSur and the Total Bill was 8000, our Portion that we paid out of pocket was 2600, just based on that we recouped our premium that we paid for a whole year of coverage.

    • It did not surprise me. Because we are talking state of the art equipment and high end costs compared to a rural hospital like in San Francisco. I was very satisfied with the care that I received, and very willing to pay what I did. Hey, if they would have paid more, that would have made me even happier, but I am not unhappy or surprised at what they did pay! 🙂

      • Very True, Bob. Glad to hear you are doing well.

        Phil Health pays more for those that get services at government run hospitals. Phil Health pays less for those that get services at, or can afford, private hospitals.

  7. Bob;
    As you know I have Phil Health but didn’t avail of it during my 2.5 month hospital stay with three operations, The Hospital I was at is Bay-Pointe on Subic Freeport, one of the newest and best equipped outside of Manila. My military insurance provider has a contract with this hospital and has fully vetted this facility every year. Outpatient pharmacy cost I must pay out of pocket but are fully reimbursable by submitting a claim, which I do once a year for ease of paperwork on my part.(Inpatient pharmacy costs are paid by my insurance,!) But I knew I was in one of the best hospitals on Luzon and I fully trust the staff. My co-pay was $750.00 in total, and Tri-Care took care of the rest.
    I still claim that my treatment here was far better than the United States and agree with you that here you are a person with value. I have one more operation coming up soon, and am not looking forward to it, but am not worried either.

    • Hi Paul – Unfortunately, I really know of no health insurance other than PhilHealth that is available to me, because of pre-existing conditions and such. If I went back to the USA for treatment I could get Obamacare, and I even considered that. I can’t do that right now, though, because with my condition, I am advised not to travel, especially on such a long trip like that. But, overall, I am happy with what I have.

      Like you, I feel firmly that the treatment here is actually better than I would get in the USA, for various reasons. Being a “real person” and not “the guy in room 463” is a big part of it. Kind personal care means a lot when you are sick.

      Good luck to you, Paul! Keep getting better!

    • Paul,
      Did Phil-Health kick in for anything?

      Bottom line for the two of you (Bob & Paul) glad your both around to talk about it!

    • Latest research shows that the things that we have been told in the past 50 years to eat are not necessarily what is right for heart health! There is medical research now showing that it is not so much about fat and protein, much more about carbs than anything else.

      • Bob,
        Or as many carbs as you can burn. Since you need some carbs for energy. I lost 25 lbs, really without meaning too. Your hospital bill wasn’t bad at all considering you spend time in ICU. Philhealth covered 25% of my hospital stay in a private hospital and the rest was covered by my Blue Cross. I really had a great stay at the hospital. Like Paul and yourself said. Care is a lot more personal here than in the States. I was really impressed, especially with my surgeon. The only problem i had was during the discharge when the hospital added a big additional fee dr’s fee after we received the bill and everything was covered. Anne had to play hardball with Blue Cross.

        • Hi PapaDuck – Like you said, I have been very happy with my hospital stays each time I have been hospitalized in the Philippines. I hate the hospital, but they seem to make it as comfortable as possible, so I can go with it! 🙂 Last time I was hospitalized, PhilHealth paid a lot larger percentage, something like 70% or so, and I was very happy with that. Like you said, with this stay, especially with time in the ICU, I got away cheap!

    • While the Omega 3 is extremely important in Fish there are so many other things affecting one’s heart health. Stress is a huge factor. The list is so long.

    • Violet.. that is pinoy mentality. Having less body fat and being thin makes you more healthy and to me much more attractive. I HATE watching pinoy TV shows, commercials, and movies promoting overweight kids as cute. That’s unacceptable to me and abuse. Look around you niw..How many fat and overweight ladies over 40 do you see on the streets? It’s a majority and this leads to heart problems and diabetes. Be grateful having a thin body and don’t fall for that Asian notion that fat is healthy and wealthy.

    • Thank you Reed- you are giving me some push to accept my slim body now. But i am losing self esteem because everytime they see me- they’ll complain i looked sick and pathetic. I always get sad and i hate going out anymore.

  9. Bob
    Here’s hoping you are on the mend now! I have been through some of this myself here in Metro Manila. I had my first concerns about 4 years ago. I found a great cardiologist here at St. Luke’s Medical Center, and come to find out he was trained at Duke Medical Center in the US. What I wanted to note, however, is that my “episode” was quite mild and turned out to be “exercise induced” which became quite manageable. (without, I might add, requiring me to stop exercising) But if you live long enough, these things will happen. I’ve always found the expense here to be manageable. You might relate to the fact that after I went through diagnosis here, I had an angiogram during one of my US trips, on the advice of a US cardiologist. I was still covered by my employment health insurance plan, so I only had to meet the deductible and a certain percentage of the billed expense. The procedure was conducted in an out-patient facility of a prominent regional hospital in California. While I was “held-over” in the facility for observation after the procedure, I was never checked into the actual hospital. I was in the facility less than 24 hours. My insurance company was billed over USD 26,000!!! I was stunned….I was horrified….I was in shock….really pissed off! I nearly had my second cardiac “event”! Even though I was insured, my portion of the bill, with deductible and co-pay, was over USD 7,600. I will resist further rant on this matter!
    Granted, even though my cardiologists here was US trained and educated, he does not have the facilities and the diagnostic teams of Duke Medical Center! However, the value is in the care and the fact that most of us will not have any health events so exotic that local care will be taxed beyond their capability. One further lesson learned from my own experiences and helping others in situations where they need to be hospitalized. I strongly recommend that if you are hospitalized that you realize that it is not a good idea to be alone. Having someone there to advocate for you on a 24-hour basis will insure that you get the attention a “squeaking-wheel” needs. Which, by the way, is probably a good practice anywhere in the world!

    • Hi Mark, that is really interesting information, thanks for sharing it. You can have an angiogram here for as little as P30k, only a bit over $600, so $27k is shocking! And, with your part being over $7k, it would have made sense to do it here! Even at a hospital like St. Lukes, the total expense would have been only about $1300 to $1500. Quite a difference!

      Hope you are doing well. I am feeling very good, and already back to doing some minor exercise, although I am supposed to hold off on exercise for 6 months or so. I don’t think that is going to happen, I am feeling so good!

    • Insurance companies are the main cause for high medical costs in the US. They control what the dr’s can do. Most people in the Philippines don’t have health insurance, so therefore cost are way lower there.

  10. My colleague had bad chest pains two weeks ago and drove himself to St Lukes, Global City in Metro Manila. Ended up going to Emergency ward and staying 4 days for angiogram, angioplasty with 2 stents inserted. The total bill was over p800k, of which p500k was just for the hospital stay alone.

    We have good medical that covers 80% with ceiling/stop loss. St Lukes is one of the most expensive so others may need to consider costs if in Manila.

    • Certainly, getting outside Manila brings costs way down. I personally believe that you can get an equal level of care in Davao at a fraction of the cost of treatment in Manila.

    • I knew a case of hearth surgery that cost $US 250000.00,… Yes, two hundred fifty thousands, twenty years ago and I thought that was outragious.
      However P 800000.00 here in Philippines looks astronomically outragious.
      How many centuries would it take to pay, it if you work for P 300.00 per day?

  12. Cost of my Heart attack treatment – 6 days in Manila Doctors Hospital with ICU + other Cardiac Ward Private Room later / Cardiac Specialist Drs. Fees/ medications/drugs & associated tests etc. Total was Billed as P107772.76 – LESS Philhealth P13,230.00 – Net Payable = P94,542.76
    Had a Stoke two months later & was confined again at Manila Doctors Hospital with costs for 3 days hospitalization in a large Private Room with all facilities + normal associated costs/Cardiac & Neurology Specialist Drs. was P54067.25 LESS Philhealth P19,600 = Net Paid = P34467.25
    If I had a Philippine Seniors Card a further 20% would have been deducted from the both billings.
    Strange Philhealth paid more for the 3 days for the Stoke stay than for the 6 day stay for my Heart attack ? Would recommend the excellent economical,efficient & attentive personal treatment for both stays at Manila Doctors Hospital – Malate, Manila.

    • Thanks for 2 your experience Dennis. I don’t know of you are Filipino or foreigner but it is not legal for a foreigner to posses or use a senior discount card.

      Thanks again.

      • Hi Bob, hang on in there you´ll be feeling like a prince and living a normal life very soon…Could you please enlighten me… you wrote that “it´s not legal for a foreigner to possess or use a senior discount card” Are we talking about a “Senior Citizen´s Card” or is there another type of senior discount card? I have been issued a Senior Citizens Card at a govt. institution here in Bacolod City with a serial nr. and photo and have been using it over a year and a half to get discounts in restaurants and supermarkets I even got a 20% discount on my ticket with Cebu Pacific Air, and up until now no one has questioned that. I have never been hospitalised (knock on wood) which means I never tried to use it in any hospitals. I have heard, that it´s only if you have a permanent residence permit here in PH and over 60+ then you can apply for one, temporary residents need not apply…I had to show my I-card in order for it to be processed. So my question is how can it be possible for me to obtain a Senior Citizen´s Card if it ´s illegal for foreigners to have one….that is if we´re talking about the same card…All the best ….Richie R

        • We are talking about the same card. It used to be legal for foreigners, but the law was changed maybe 5 years ago or so, as I recall. Now, it is illegal to use or even posses one if you are not a citizen of the Philippines who actually lives in the Philippines. If you are caught with one, you will be deported and face other penalties.

          Yes, the government gave you one, but that is common. A lot of people don’t know the law, and they will issue the card to foreigners, but if the people who actually know the law find that you have one.. it does not matter that it ws given to you in error, you will face the penalties.

          Read more about it here:
          http://liveinthephilippines.com/philippines-senior-discount-fact-or-fallacy/

          • Wow!! thanks for the info Bob…just think if someone who knew the law had reported it…I certainly would be charged, jailed and deported as you put it, I know of one other foreigner who was issued a card so I´ll inform him because neither he nor his wife are aware of it. I certainly have to be thankful for going on this site “Live in the Philippines” and reading about it as I would just go about like before unaware that it was illegal…. even though the topic was about heart problems and hospital bills etc.. thanks again Bob

            • Happy to help, Richie. I know a lot of foreigners are disappointed that they cannot legally get the Senior discount, but I do wish you the best.

  14. Goof article Bob, and the prices are cheap. I paid twice that much for my dog at a upscale vet hospital for testing and ended up loosing the dog. Hospitals here are much more. I suspect one night with the sniffles in a good USA hospital would have been more than what you paid.

  16. Wow pretty cheap compared to the states
    Your pretty young to have them problems
    Genetics I guess
    I hope you get well soon

  17. In the states my open heart surgery was over 175K, insurance paid all but 3K. Now my insurance has a higher out of pocket so one stent cost me 7k and total before insurance was 36K. Even expensive hospitals in RP are cheep compared to US.

  18. One other quick cost comparison. I have a consult visit with a specialist today (for a non-critical issue). The cost will be $375. And this will not include actually doing anything, like taking blood. In fact when I asked what was going to be done I was told it was only a consult. Apparently the doctor will only be measuring the size of my wallet 🙂

      • Consult for St lukes runs around P1000. But my friend who is Philippino is only charged p600 by th exact same doctor at same office. I ran into him at the clinic. We even have the same pre diabetes medication.

        Kinda of pissed off at skin tax, but I have insurance and he has Phil Health so I am less out of pocket at end of day.

        • Hi Don, a lot of people mention it, but I have never had the problem of being overcharged like that, based on being a foreigner. By the way, philhealth does not cover office visit at all, it is only for hospitalization.

  19. I’m on VA Healthcare and had a killer heart attack last September. I died in the Hilo, Hawaii ER and was flown to Tripler Army MC ICU in Honolulu by air ambulance (return flight was on Hawaiian Air Lines). I had many tests and heart cauterization which showed no heart damage so they are treating me with medications only. My total out of pocket cost was $0.00. My VA doctor estimated the “civilian” cost to be about $350,000 or more. Without the VA, it would have cost me around $60,000 out of pocket on my Medicare deductible/copay. I got really great care and attention for no out-of-pocket expense.

    • Oh, you mean Aflac. You said Affleck, I thought it had something to do with the actor, so I was unsure. Sorry about the confusion. I think that Afflac is not a company that operates in the Philippines, they are a US company as far as I know. We have things like Blue Cross here, and some toher companies that offer insurance that supplements PhilHealth.

  21. It to bad veterans don’t cover medical costs in RP , it’s only war related injuries
    So looks like Phil Heath for me when I get there

      • Yes but with Tricare you must pay first then submit a claim taking months. I just had Heart Attack here in Cebu on July 28th and 10 day stay was nearly 700,000 pesos at Perpetual Soccour Hospital in Cebu City. Our Philhealth only covered approx 19,000 of that. It will take me years to pay

  22. I just hope that the hospital and the doctors billed you just like any other patient and not based on the information that you can pay more.

    hope your doing good.

  24. The front iffice said the doctor’s fee depends on the doctor. But “Come On” isn’t that about right? Should a foreigner who makes X amount per month really pay the same as a Filipino who makes very little per month? The Philippines is a very poor country.

  25. glad to hear your ok and working to manage your future health/drug treatment. are you on any lipitor or cholesterol lowering drugs? last time i went to the dr. they put me on some and told me even tho my level was low they revised the recommended levels even lower and said it was a win -win , no harm to keep it low as possible.

  26. Hi Bob,
    Great to hear that you are making good progress.
    Wishing you a full and speedy recovery 🙂

  27. Bob. I just stumbled accross this earlier post. You may or may not realize by now that you probably did not need the expense and inconvenience of the quadruple bypass operation. Your current fasting is not only reversing your diabetes but also your arterial disease. Several studies have shown that people with coronary artery disease have better long term outcomes being treated with statins and a daily low dose aspirin than they do with bypasses and stents (which do need to be used during heart attack emergencies). Most cardiologists do not seem to know this. I am treating my arterial disease with Lovastatin ($10 for three month supply without insurance), Niacin (about $10/month) and low dose aspirin at $4 for a two year supply. I also eat a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise.

    • Hi Mike, I think it’s true that if I’d started fasting a few years ago or more I probably could have avoided that. However, at the point that I got the heart surgery, I could have died within days. I was very close to dying. So, just saying I’m not going to get the surgery, I’ll just fast, it was too late for that. But, I’m almost completely certain that I’ll never need anything like that again, because I’m on the right path now. Thanks for your comment.

      • Yes, the important thing is a that because of your lifestyle changes you almost certainly will not need such surgery again. All too many folks need repeat bypasses in a few years because they don’t take care of themselves. But, I do recommend another book, “The Great American Heart Hoax”, by Michael Ozner, that discusses the great overuse of bypasses and stents; heroic intervention for conditions best treated with lifestyle changes and inexpensive medication.

        • Hi Mike – I believe you, and I will check out the book. Taking your point further, I Have come to believe that the best medicine we can take is eating good foods and avoiding the wrong foods. When we do that, we often don’t need any actual medication at all!

  29. I heard few co-filipino here in USA that they scared to have check here in USA sometimes,because they feel that doctors visit they just more after the insurance fee. 2 Filipinos had doctors checked 2days b4 they flew to Philippines, day after arrival in Philippines they had checked again to compared the results, but they said the result in Philippines was fine and OK, and they said they don’t think the equipment are different, because the test was they same.