People who live at a country outside of their citizenship should also consider health expenses aside from the basic living necessities. These expatriates who are in search for living stability should come up with an international insurance for their medical needs. Hence, when living outside of their country, they are often in search of an expat medical insurance.
There are many expat medical insurance programmes that offer different plans to the expatriate community. These are usually international companies who cover these foreign citizens in a country where they choose to reside. Local insurance companies in the chosen country can usually cater only to local citizens, which is why international insurance companies are vastly expanding.
An international insurance company can offer the expatriate different plans based on the place of coverage. For example, if the expatriate already has existing medical care back home, then he can choose not to be covered by a full package, which involves coverage in the home country. The cheapest expat medical insurance programs only cover the area where the expatriate opts to stay (like Europe or East Asia).
An expat medical insurance program contains the usual nitty-gritty; outpatient care, in-patient hospital care and additional benefits such as dental and maternal care. The outpatient care is where consultations for the general practitioner come in—expatriates who are living in a developing country are more prone to illness, hence the need of a regular check-up. The in-patient hospital care usually involves unintended accidents and confinement. Additional benefits are the ones that are added should the expatriate to expand his expat medical insurance plan—surgeries, dental care and optics expenses can be covered with additional charge.
Usually, the expat medical insurance plan does not restrict the plan holder to any restrictions about doctors and hospitals, as it is impossible for an international coverage. However, most insurance companies who manage the program might require the plan holder to call the insurance company before signing a bond to the hospital about in-patient care.
When coming up with the perfect expat medical insurance program, the expatriate should read all the fine print and consider the relative costs. For example, if the client is willing to save up, there is a chance that he or she will be offered a meagre plan than can barely cover the standard medical expenses. Therefore, he or she should be aware about the degree of medical coverage that he or she is comfortable with. The expatriate should then consider the convenience, quality of service and the ability of the program to answer his medical needs.
There are times when you think that you cannot handle all the household chores that you’ve been dealing with on a daily basis. Don’t worry. You are not alone. Many people in the Philippines face the same difficulty everyday. But, this problem has an easy solution if you think about it.
Hiring a maid or household helper in the Philippines is the only way to ease your burdensome tasks at home. It is the perfect way to finding a quiet time for yourself and your family. Having a maid can help you be more productive at home, work and even in your leisure time. Hiring one in the Philippines cannot be considered a difficult task.
But, getting a maid requires you to take precautions, as well. Many have experienced unfortunate incidents when they started hiring maids. But, these things could be prevented if you know how to carefully handpick your maid. It isn’t bad at all if you require those who want to be your helper to undergo stringent screening process.
1. Find a credible person or agency in the Philippines that can recommend a trustworthy maid
The first step to finding a trustworthy maid is to find someone who has a reputable character that can assure that your potential maid is worthy of the job. Most people rely on the recommendation of their most trusted friends and family members before they hire a maid. Others ask for the help of agencies that recommend maids for them. Find an agency which is accredited by the Philippine authorities. Usually these agencies have conducted their own research on their maids to ensure the credibility of the household helpers.
2. Learn how to conduct background checks
A Philippine government-accredited agency has most likely conducted background checks on their maids. So, if you opt to ask for their help, you wouldn’t find it difficult to have a trustworthy helper. But, if you really prefer a maid who is handpicked by only you, then, it is time to learn how to conduct background checks. You can require your potential maid to present certificate from the Philippine National Police or clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation. This would ensure that your maid does not have any criminal record or pending cases.
3. Salary issue
As much as possible, brief your potential maid on the salary rate that you usually give them. If necessary, you can include their benefits if they remain loyal and trustworthy to you. In the Philippines, the salary range for maids is between P3,000 to P5,000 depending on the kind of work that they are required to fulfill.
The Philippines continuous to have ubiquitous problems on education. A sizeable portion of the populace still lacks it, while those who have it often end up unable to use their college degrees for what jobs are available. But a folklore says, even in modern times, we have to keep in mind the basics of wisdom more than the advances of education.
Two men went from Manila to Cebu. One was a lawyer, the other a simple fisherman. They met in the ship and discussed about various facets of life. The folklore says the lawyer demonstrated what education can do to a person; he was able to talk about anything under the sun. The simple fisherman, according to the folklore, had finished only grade four in elementary.
The folklore says the lawyer talked about the economy, world affairs, war, climate change, and politics, among other things. Periodically, the lawyer would ask him if the fisherman understood. He only smiled and looked back. The folklore says he commented thus: “It’s a pity that you know only the sea and its fish.” He looked at the fisherman and smilingly said, “And probably how to swim.”
The lawyer looked away and continued. “Life is more than the sea, fishing, and swimming. You have to know about what’s going on, here and abroad. Had you continued diligently with your studies, you would have been erudite in all matters like me.” The folklore says he stared at the fisherman. “You’re missing so much in life, friend.”
Without warning a tsunami suddenly struck and the ship was capsizing within minutes. In the commotion, the folklore says, they ran out of life boats and life jackets. The fisherman shouted: “Sir, it’s time to jump off to the sea before the ship submerges!” The lawyer stared hard at him and said, “I don’t know how to swim!” The folklore says, the fisherman was aghast: “You’re so smart but you never bothered about swimming? I mean we all know our archipelago---7,100 islands---lots of waters. Even grade four kids know that.”
The lawyer shouted in anger” “I know that! But what’s your point?”
The fisherman, says this folklore, poised to dive but before jumping, he said: “The point is, sir, jump and swim away from the ship---or you’ll lose your life!”
This Philippine folklore reminds us that education that cannot be practical in one’s real situation is potential wisdom all down the drain.
Culture shock is most likely the number one problem of any expatriate. If the foreigner is a first-timer in the country, the more the possibility of culture shock. But there are ways to combat this psychological phenomenon to make the expatriate life more comfortable, especially in the Philippines.
The more ethnic divisions or dialects a country has, the more problems we might have with culture shock and expatriate life. Imagine the various cultures one will have to deal with in a single place. The Philippines has hundreds, at least, of dialects, which means it’s possible to be dealing with as many different cultures in a community. What do we do with this? Does this mean we study each culture or dialect just to get along with people? Not necessarily. There are general tips to minimize culture shock for a more tolerable expatriate life.
No matter the confusion or disorientation about how things go or are done in a certain place, take three long and quiet deep breaths and then smile. Deep breaths put more oxygen in the brain and lungs and keep the mind straight and the circulation going right. Then the smile---well, Filipinos (and most people anywhere) often appreciate a smile. It keeps tense situations at bay. But it should be a most natural smile---not one that looks too eager to please people. An “uncommitted” smile is the word.
When the breathing and smiling becomes automatic responses to any stimulus, then go out as often as possible. Get used to the people and the place. Just accept things as they are. Nod and smile. Stop comparing the local situations with what one has back home. It will never work. Just keep mum and keenly observe everything---quiet but alert. The lesser words, the deeper one looks. Filipinos always respect deep-looking people. A good bible proverb says, “A fool, if he keeps quiet, will be deemed wise.”
Culture shock often comes in traffic jams Manila-style. Heavy, crazy traffic is what bothers expatriate life the most. Lots of foreigners show their disappointment---which isn’t wise. Be sure never to react negatively to a negative situation. To most Filipinos disenchanted foreigners are amusing to watch. They like it. But a cool one amid confusion strikes respect in them. Calm-looking foreigners to them are intelligent ones who know exactly what they’re doing.
Culture shock need not bother too much. It does come but it can be mitigated. A deep breath, a gentle smile, a cool positive attitude, and quiet alertness---all add up to a tolerable expatriate life.
The leaning tower of Pisa is an absolutely one of the dumbfounding tourist spots in the world. It is said 'to lean' every year and to ensure the safety of the tourist the government of Italy requested help and lead weights were placed to counter the further tilting. Of course, to keep the tourists' interest, they retained the tower to its leaning position. How about a 'sinking tower'? Yes, there is indeed a Filipino version of the leaning tower of Pisa. It is situated at the northern part of the Philippines-and it is the 'sinking tower of Laoag' or 'The Sinking Bell Tower of Laoag'. Nonetheless, I had not seen or been there before we graduated in high school.
My mother was born and raised at the Ilocos province. As my mom always told me, it was not an easy life after all when they were young. My mom was sixth (6th) among nine siblings and their main source of financial supply was through tilling the land or farming. My Lolo (grandfather) was stable in Hawaii long before he had a family, but when the second (2nd) World War broke, he was forced to go back to the Philippines to oversee their properties. Unfortunately, almost all the title deeds of their lands were not honored and they were left with almost nothing. They started from scratch until all their nine (9) children finished college and went their own lives and things got better. When my siblings and I were still in our younger years, my parents always made sure that during summer time or long vacation, we were at Ilocos.
My mom’s place is at Ilocos Sur. We had not traveled that much outside our mom's vicinity. However, I had a chance being at Ilocos Norte during our inter-school sports meet. As far as I could remember, when we were around the vicinity of Laoag City, we were guided by convoys of policemen in motorcycles; treated like VIP’s and it was a wonderful feeling, as if we were professional athletes!
After our inter-school games, the gracious school host for the meet was not yet over presenting the beauty of Laoag City. They allocated a bus for our class for us to visit historical Spanish-built churches in their wonderful Philippine-baroque style. During that time, some churches were under restoration for tourism purposes (as posted on the signboard just outside the churches informing us of historical value and a sense of heritage). The 'church hopping' went until the Paoay Church and for me it was the most memorable off all churches I had visited. As per reflection, it was indeed paradoxical to see these churches having torture chambers to punish malefactors during those years. Well, I admit it gave me some goose bumps as I saw them. We were also able to visit some Marcos-period mansions along the way and of course, we never failed to miss the sinking belfry of Laoag City. As a final note in our tour, we have had a chance to chill out at we stayed a five (5) star hotel of the city. I all I could definitely say was that, the city of Laoag was a big park of history and heritage!
As we went home, the school rector considered dropping by the late former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. President Marcos had been dead for years and the idea gave us a bit of a creep during that time. Actually, the mausoleum was at Batac City, Ilocos Norte. There was a lot of war memorabilia in the place displaying how great Marcos was. I remember our rector leading us into a prayer before we took a glance of the late president's corpse. After that instance, our prefect of discipline led us in to a prayer of reconciliation for the not-so-good happening in the Philippine history. That made us relaxed until we got back in Manila as we faced again reality.
Ilocos Region, particularly in the Ilocos Norte had been improving since the time of the former President Marcos. As the head of the state, he made sure that the land where he was born would be recognized by tourists and visitors a like by restoring and preserving the place's natural and man-made heritage. Actually, Laoag City was not done yet showing us its full beauty because of time, we had not enjoyed the white-sand beaches of the place: another cool reason why Laoag City is the place to be!
If you are of retirement age and wondering what to do and where to live when you retire, consider moving to the Philippines. This beautiful tropical country is one of the best kept secrets in the world, as every expat living there will tell you. Some of the benefits of living as an expat in the Philippines include:
- Hospitality. Filipinos are as warm and friendly as the Philippine climate. They are fascinated by the Americans and other foreigners who visit or live in their country and always make them feel welcome. Everyone smiles at you and treats you like royalty. And since Filipinos speak English, it’s easy to strike up a conversation with anyone. You will make friends quickly! One trip is enough to convince many tourists of this fact and keeps them coming back for more. Filipinos are so kind and hospitable that you will definitely miss it all when you go back home.
- Low Cost of Living. Cost of expat living is very cheap. With a modest income (by western standards) you can live like a rich man in a nice house with your own maids and driver (or use cheap taxi if you don’t have a car). Labor is ridiculously cheap as you will find when you need a plumber, electrician or carpenter to fix something in your house. That is unheard of in the US where it is better and cheaper to do the work yourself.
- Romance. If you are looking for love and marriage, you cannot find a better place for that than the Philippines. Love in a tropical paradise is no mere fantasy; it can become a reality for an expat living there. The exotic beauty and allure of Filipinas is no myth; it’s real as you will find for yourself. Filipinas make beautiful, loyal and devoted wives. Every expat living in the country with a local wife will swear up and down he is married to the nicest person in the world. Not only the women for that matter. Filipino men are romantic lovers who know how to respect a woman and make her feel like a queen. There’s something for everyone and you need never be lonely!
- Tourist’s Haven. The Philippines is a tourist’s dreamland. Beautiful beaches, hotels to fit all budgets, world-class shopping malls, diving resorts, and exciting night-life are just some of the things you can enjoy during your vacation. Another thing is medical tourism. If you need to have cosmetic surgery or heart bypass, get it in the Philippines. Medical costs are unbelievably cheaper than in western countries. What is more, the service provided by caring doctors and nurses is unparalleled.
These just some of the good things that an expat living in the Philippines enjoys. Why go into lonely retirement in your own country when there is a secret haven waiting for you?
Still not convinced? Ask any expat living in the Philippines. They will tell you!