THE TRUTH ABOUT HEALTHCARE IN THE PHILIPPINES! AN EXPAT INTERVIEW

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:03]All right. Hello and welcome to the Philippines. Today we're are going to interview uh somebody with a lot of experience in the healthc care industry in the US as well as here in the Philippines and he has uh probably some of the best knowledge on on various aspects uh from Phil health to many other things. Allan, you've been here what how many years now? I been here for 4 years. My family and I and Rod, thank you for inviting me. And yes, I uh my family and I moved here 4 years ago and uh retired here.

[00:00:42]Both of us, my wife and I, worked in healthc care in the United States. Um I worked for 30 years in the rehabilitation industry, case management and ultimately um as acting administrator for a hospital in Northern California. So I've sort of had experience in various fields uh various components uh within the healthcare industry and uh my wife was in nursing and now we're retired here and uh among the most important things to me in moving here was healthcare and learning what are the options available for my family and I uh learning the hospitals learning about the uh insuranceances, outpatient clinics, um because it's crucial at any age. We we never know when something's going to happen um when you're going to need the healthcare and so uh wanted to plan ahead and and and learn.

[00:01:48]>> Yeah. Your son is also going through a nursing program here.

[00:01:51]>> Yes.

[00:01:52]>> You've been directly involved in in the schools and the educational system.

[00:01:57]>> Exactly. He's at UC Benilad in their nursing program. He's uh he was a medical assistant for 3 years in the states. Um and then he came here for nursing for RN and when he graduates he'll move back to the states and won't be saddled with the uh 20 or 30 years of student loans. uh if he had done it in the states, um college is much more affordable here and so we're able to pay for his tuition and then he'll uh go back to the States.

[00:02:31]>> You know, there's if you if you follow any of the Facebook groups in the Philippines, there's always negative comments. There's there's I mean, there are positive comments. People have had really good experiences here, but there's always the the negative comments about the healthcare here in the Philippines. Yeah. And bad news, especially in Facebook groups, certainly spreads uh quicker and more farreaching than good news. And um there is definitely much good here in the Philippines when it comes to health care, health insurance, Phil Health, etc. uh just this morning in fact in a Philippines group um just massive negativity with about 50 negative comments about Phil health and um even including the fact that supposedly as foreigners we cannot have Phil health uh which is not true. we can um people do not understand what Phil Health can and will do for you and including for myself it's been really outstanding to to have I still think it's important to have um private health insurance for catastrophic issues and we'll get into that but for Hill Phil Health at 17,000 pesos a month it pays for itself pretty quickly if you know how to use it and what it can do including for example um the recent expansion of the outpatient benefits. It used to be the called the consultant program. Now it's uh been expanded and is called yakap y a k a p which is an acronym for something.

[00:04:18]Um but it includes annual physicals. Uh it includes lab work. It includes up to 20,000 pesos per year in uh maintenance medications.

[00:04:33]Um, it includes annual cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies.

[00:04:39]Um, I went and had a colonoscopy done.

[00:04:43]Uh, I paid zero and it was, you know, 23,000 pesos. Well, that right there paid for, uh, my my Phil Health. Um there's the um assumption or or the thought that it's just a a discount card and you might get 15 or 20% discount if you're hospitaliz hospitalized. Um well, I've certainly had uh more than 20% covered when I was hospitalized. Um I had almost 100% covered for uh an arthoscopic knee surgery uh here in Sibu City. Um likewise outpatient procedures uh day in in day surgical departments are covered depending on the procedure. You know for example if you um need steroid injections for pain whether it be back or elbow or whatever it's covered >> it's covered. Um I've had it covered. Um so it's it's educating yourself. Um, for example, if you need a a procedure done on an outpatient basis, you can find out from the doctor what code they're in going to use, go on the the Phil Health membership portal and you input that code and it will tell you exactly if it's covered and how much they're going to cover of it. Then you can always then go back to the doctor and say, "I see it's going to pay 77,500.

[00:06:19]You know, what's your professional fee?"

[00:06:20]And then find out the, you know, and then that way you'll know. And more often than not, probably 80 to 100% of whatever the procedure is is is going to be covered by Phil Health. And I and I don't think that Phil Health itself has done a good enough job at educating not just foreigners but the population of the country as a whole. I don't think they're fully aware um of what Yakap is for example and what Phil Health can do. And then what helps for example here on the in the province of Sibu is the fact that we have a governor who ran on a platform and is really following through on what she um advocated for when it comes to healthcare. She's very very pro healthcare. So under her, thus far there's been an expansion of uh community- based health care of outpatient clinics throughout the entire province of Sibu, not just in Sibu city.

[00:07:26]Um with the Yakap program in the just in the central Visayas, there's approximately 250 settings that are affiliated with Yakat.

[00:07:41]Um, on the island of Sibu alone, there's a, I believe, 142, uh, that includes hospitals, outpatient clinics, uh, community- based, uh, healthc care centers that are affiliated with Yakap.

[00:07:56]>> Okay. And yeah, I had an experience here a few months ago with with my wife. She had sinus infection plus some kind of ear infection. And you need to go to a facility that works with Phil Health.

[00:08:11]Not Not all of them do. And we went in one door and it wasn't covered. If we would have went in the other door, >> I forget if it was the the medical center versus the hospital, >> right?

[00:08:23]>> And saw the right doctor, it would have been covered, >> right? Exactly.

[00:08:26]>> It wasn't that big a deal, but still it was three or 4,000 pat there there's two pieces to that. One, yes.

[00:08:34]um making sure the facility or clinic accepts Phil Health, but also with the Yakap in particular, you have to prereddecide which facility you want your YAK cap assigned to your benefit. So, you have to go to the Phil Health office and say, I want it to be this hospital or that hospital, whatever. And it it only takes about 30 seconds. They just put it in the system.

[00:09:03]They print up something and they give it to you. That way if you want to go to uh Subu University Hospital, for example, for your Yakap benefit, you just present that and then they see, oh, okay. Yes, you're assigned to this building. You can't just go anywhere.

[00:09:21]>> You know, when I when I joined Phil Health, uh my first year here, I think I was in J Mall, and there was a little kiosk in the middle of the mall. I filled out a little form. They gave me a card and they said, "Go laminate it.

[00:09:35]That's your card type thing."

[00:09:37]>> Yeah.

[00:09:37]>> Now it's a little more I think you need to go through the one of the offices.

[00:09:42]>> Yeah.

[00:09:43]>> Yeah. And the main regional office uh here in Sibu City is right by the um at Escario and Groto >> at the intersection. Huge office.

[00:09:54]Signing up for Phil Health is very very quick and easy.

[00:09:58]>> It's cash only. Yeah. Uh you just fill out the form, bring a one by one picture and it takes 5 minutes and then still you have to then go laminate it yourself. Uh and something else has come, you know, over the years I've seen different people commenting and and some people think they can go in under if their wife is working, they have Phil Health, they think they can can be added on to that program and my understanding is you can't >> as a foreigner.

[00:10:28]>> Yeah. You cannot.

[00:10:28]>> Correct. Yeah. And that's my understanding as well. You have to wait for day 59 when you get your ACR card.

[00:10:35]>> Yeah.

[00:10:35]>> And then you have to go in as an individual.

[00:10:37]>> So you do need the ACR card. Alien alien certificate of registration.

[00:10:42]>> Correct.

[00:10:43]>> Which you get a you apply for at your 60 days here.

[00:10:46]>> Yes. Yeah.

[00:10:48]>> Okay.

[00:10:49]And most of the hospitals do in fact they have a Phil health office and most >> generally speaking I would say all the hospitals take Phil Health >> and they all have a Phil health desk >> or office.

[00:11:02]>> Yes.

[00:11:04]>> Yeah. When I broke my shoulder 2 years ago, I didn't even think about Phil Health. Then when it came to to pay the final bill, they said, "Oh, yeah. Your name is your name is here. here and I I forget the percentage that they paid.

[00:11:19]>> Yeah. And and often times it is down around 15 20% discount which that in itself I to me is nothing to complain about. Um but often times it's more and if you go to for example let's say um you you have a very tiny uh income you're not able to pay a a big hospital bill. uh if you go to one of the government hospitals and with Phil Health and you're admitted into a ward, you can actually end up uh if you qualify, you pay zero uh because um under the current administration here uh in the Philippines and this applies to foreigners as well. Um, if you qualify as charity, uh, it's zero balance, zero bill.

[00:12:11]>> Okay.

[00:12:11]>> Uh, for your hospitalization, but you do have to be in a ward, uh, bed.

[00:12:17]>> Yeah.

[00:12:18]>> And the government hospitals, I mean, I can only speak in regards to Sibu City, for example. you know, they're are they as nice or as comfortable or as modern as the uh private hospitals? No.

[00:12:36]But that doesn't mean that the care is bad. And what I would factor in if people are trying to make that decision is pay closer to attention who to who the doctors are and uh who the surgeon is that might be doing your surgery.

[00:12:54]Because often times these doctors, you know, the majority of their time might be at a private hospital and they're an outstanding doctor, but they also devote certain hours to the government hospital. So just because you're in a government hospital doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to have bad care.

[00:13:14]>> Yeah, I think that's uh that's true.

[00:13:16]I've talked to a number of people. In fact, a blogger, a pretty popular blogger number of years ago had some issue and went into a a public and and and went into the ward. Yeah. And he he said it was a good experience for him. Yeah.

[00:13:32]I don't remember the details but uh yeah there are options if you're >> Yeah. It depends upon your budget what you want.

[00:13:39]>> Exactly. Exactly.

[00:13:41]>> I ended up uh I ended up in a private room. They gave me this huge private room. I didn't I didn't ask for it. They just it's kind of emergency type situation.

[00:13:54]But yeah, it was nice. I was well taken care of. Uh and uh yeah, my experiences here, you know, another interesting thing when I first came here, I had uh I had a couple different issues the first year. I had a had an infection started on my leg.

[00:14:10]>> In fact, it started in Los Angeles before I flew here.

[00:14:13]>> Started itching and I thought bug bite or something. Got here and and one day they staying in a hotel. Uh the maid said, "Sir, you need to go to the hospital. your leg is swelling up.

[00:14:27]>> Wow.

[00:14:28]>> And yeah, big big red thing. And uh so I went I said, "Well, where where do I go?" And I asked a few people and there's a dermatologist down this street and in this building.

[00:14:38]I went in there and uh she gave me some antibiotics and she said, "Come back in a week." And I did. She said, "You need to have an operation today."

[00:14:48]>> Oh, wow.

[00:14:48]>> And she said, "Come back in 2 hours and go see this surgeon." And yeah, just quick outpatient. He he cut it open, cut all the bad stuff out. And yeah, it was only gosh, ridiculous amount. I think, you know, 500 pesos, 10 bucks for the operating room.

[00:15:06]>> Right. Right.

[00:15:08]>> Maybe a,000 for him. And the hospital, maybe another thousand. Some ridiculous low amount.

[00:15:14]>> I'm still thinking about the fact that it took a hotel housekeeper to identify that you needed a doctor.

[00:15:20]>> I try. You know, you've known me. I I try to self-medicate way too often.

[00:15:26]The last thing I do is Yeah. And and that's a that's good advice, too. If if you know there's different bugs here, different issues, don't wait till things get bad.

[00:15:37]>> Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:38]>> Go early.

[00:15:39]>> Yeah. So, so often people take better care of their cars than their bodies.

[00:15:44]You know, you you need to be proactive and uh I believe in preventative >> care. Now, the other thing, um, yeah, when I got here, you know, I I asked a couple different times, "Where's where's there a medical clinic?"

[00:16:00]And people said, "You have to go to the hospital." I said, "That that can't be right." And, you know, I back then there were very few clinics. That's changed over the years. And starting to talk about the clinics that you you're familiar with.

[00:16:16]>> Yeah. There's there's for example in Sibu City there are many many many clinics and many of them are chains that are nationwide throughout the country.

[00:16:25]Um the first one that comes to mind would be Healthway. Healthway is um throughout multiple locations in Manila.

[00:16:34]Here in Sibu they have a clinic as well as a hospital. They have a hospital in Elo as well. um 7 days a week, 7:00 a.m.

[00:16:45]to 5:00 p.m. And they even have memberships where you can pay uh 1,000 pesos and that gives you unlimited consultations with the general practitioners. You do have to pay 5 to 700 pesos to see a specialist, but as a as a member, you also get a discount on their lab work and radiology, a discount at the pharmacy. And what's nice about them, it's just walk in and uh I always keep an updated um screenshot of their schedule, the doctor's schedule. Um multiple specialties including dermatology, cardiology, orthopedics, surgery, etc. Um 7 days a week, all day long, you just walk in. I've never had to wait more than 15, 20 minutes to see a doctor.

[00:17:36]>> Oh wow. Um, but they're located at Ayala Mall here in Sibu City. Um, there's also um Kaiser and uh Maxicare and um a new one called One Health. One Health, for example, also has membership programs and all sorts of package deals. You can pay, you know, this much or that much for and it'll give you, you know, two physicals and this many X-rays and breakfast after your fasting, blood work, and and whatnot. There's different packages and um Maxiare is a kind of a major player throughout the country. Um with Maxicare uh they have comprehensive insuranceances insurance programs for inpatient uh but the maximum benefit limit amounts are very low. Um where and you have to be under the age of 60. Uh where Maxiare is good is for their outpatient prepaid plans. Um and they probably have 15 or 20 different plans that you can choose from uh ranging from um uh for pregnant women, for teenagers, for adults, for seniors, for uh females, for males. And there's all cardiology.

[00:19:05]There's all these different um prepaid packages that you can purchase for anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 pesos a month which will give you the diagnostic testing uh particular for your needs. Uh so there's a whole menu. Um and there is no age limit on on their prepaid plans.

[00:19:31]Kaiser also has very good um insurance plans, but you have to be under 60. Uh but they have um all sorts of um outpatient activities and prepaid uh plans as well.

[00:19:48]Um and they have at least one location here in Sibu. I I don't know about elsewhere. Um but yeah, so there's a there's a lot of uh outpatient options, lots uh whether it be for lab work, for physician care, uh radiology, etc. Um and then there's the the private health insurance plans. Um and there's multiple options. Um I think generally speaking most of the expats including myself um uh like the concept of no cash outlay where you're admitted to the hospital and then upon discharge the the hospital just bills the insurance directly. Um because I I don't want to be worried about paying a bill upon upon discharge.

[00:20:43]Um, so the two primary health insurancees that have uh no cash outlay plans would be Pacific Cross and AXA.

[00:20:56]And I'm not saying they're the only two, but they're the the primary two that I'm aware of. There are other um insuranceances available for catastrophics such as Alliance is another one. And I I believe Sun has health insurance plans and there's others, but um many go towards no cash outlay. And for example, with Pacific Cross, which my family and I have, um it's it's really been an outstanding um um company to deal with.

[00:21:33]They they make the admission process smooth. Um they make the discharge process smooth. I really didn't have to worry about anything. And the key to it is to um align yourself with um an agent who will they or their staff will be available 24/7, you know, and they will advocate for you. Not somebody that just sells you an insurance plan and then you don't hear from them again until it's time to renew, >> but someone who's there if you need them. And uh Michael Anstad is very well known among the expat community and he and his staff have been outstanding to work with.

[00:22:15]>> Where are they located? Is he in Civ City or >> No, he's actually north of Manila if I'm not mistaken. Um but Pacific Cross um as a company the nationwide virtually every hospital is accredited with Pacific Cross and he and his staff they're available no matter where you are. I mean, you call them up, they're going to answer the phone, >> okay?

[00:22:42]>> And um and if you or your loved one >> calls them up, if you're on your way to the emergency room, um they will immediately contact the hospital before you even get there >> to confirm that your your membership, you know, and and and to smooth make the admission process smooth.

[00:23:04]>> Okay, cool. Yeah, I see I see a lot of people recommending recommending him.

[00:23:10]>> Oh, he's Yeah, he's he and his staff uh he has a full-time RN on staff um who serves as his right-hand man. Her her name is Miles. And they they've been outstanding for my wife, son, and I.

[00:23:26]Okay.

[00:23:27]>> So, then we we've covered the the small stuff and the clinics and the the insurance. Um and then the next step is the hospital hospital level if you end up going in um you need to how do you choose a hospital is of course depends upon where you are in the country. Yeah, it depends where you are in the country and I started the research before I I even moved here um as to which are the hospitals that are here, what are their specialties, um where would I want to be, you know, possibly I even did a um uh an online Zoom tour with one of the hospitals before I moved here.

[00:24:15]Um you there's this uh uh misperception uh that you know the healthc care is bad you know period the healthcare is bad uh first we talked about Phil health is bad you know and then there's healthc care is bad and and and I always laugh you know when so frequently people will say make these statements like oh if you have so much as an ingrown toenail go fly to Thailand for for healthcare and and it's absolutely uh ridiculous. Um is there good health care in the Philippines? And the short answer is yes, of course there is. But you you need to research it, understand um the hospitals, what their specialties are, um what sort of specialists do they have on staff. Um I research doctors before I see them. if I, you know, when I needed a dermatologist, I researched the dermatologists, you know, uh, I went to one that I wasn't pleased with. So, I went I, you know, I found another one and he's been outstanding. And same with dental, same with, um, um, you know, urology, orthopedics. Um, when I first moved here, uh, it was within about 6 7 weeks, uh, I needed an orthopedic doctor and I ended up needing surgery. Um, and I really learned the hard way. Uh, I ended up with a doctor that was not good. Um, I ended up replacing that doctor with one who is probably the very best orthopedic doctor in all of Sibu City and is known nationwide and she's outstanding. You just you have to research.

[00:26:10]But to go to a doctor who um you weren't satisfied with and then to make a blanket statement I'll never go to another doctor in the Philippines is is absurd because you can have bad luck uh with a not good doctor that you don't care for in any city on the planet.

[00:26:38]Now having said that is for example the health care in the United States better or more advanced? Um I mean I would say yes sure I mean I I was part of that system for 30 years but that doesn't mean that it's bad elsewhere.

[00:27:01]There is very good healthcare here. Um there are certain sites that you can go to like a um I think it now serving.com.

[00:27:12]There's another one I think it might be called seriousmd.com.

[00:27:16]you you can go in and and find specialists and often times their resume is there like if you're researching doctors and you can see where they've had training and I mean there are many many specialists here in Sibu city alone that have had training in the United States or in Japan or here or there Malaysia. Um, so you can you can, you know, sort of do, you know, Google these doctors and do some footwork researching them.

[00:27:50]>> Okay. Yeah, I know. A couple times I I just walked into a hospital once I had a rash and I think it was a Saturday, but like you were saying earlier, these doctors often work in two two hospitals, maybe their own clinic and another clinic. So they their office hours, they're not always at that hospital.

[00:28:08]>> Correct. And I walked in and like Cebu Doctor's Hospital down here and they gave me a sheet with all the the specialties and all the doctors and what their hours were.

[00:28:18]>> Yeah.

[00:28:18]>> And they might not always keep those hours if they've got some really important patient in their other place.

[00:28:27]They might be late coming there.

[00:28:30]>> Yeah. Yeah. the the um appointment system here.

[00:28:35]>> You better get there about 1:00 and then you have to hope the doctor will show up by 2:30 or 3. Um so it can be a little bit frustrating. Uh, but >> I was using two cameras here and I didn't notice one camera focused on Allan uh shut down after 30 minutes and uh so there's a few minutes here where I'm just using his picture. You won't see his lips moving. I al also was able to use Adobe's podcast software to take the noise the background noise out. Much more information. So sit back and enjoy the rest of the uh this interview.

[00:29:20]>> Yeah, some my experience some will make an appointment and keep it. I know I think it was a dermatologist again. I had an appointment and I I got there and there's a bunch of people there and I think I was thinking, man, I'm going have to sit here a long time and wait, but no, they called me in at my appointed time. So yeah, it's getting a little bit better. It's evolving.

[00:29:40]>> It's evolving. It's evolving. Yes. Gota and and then you got to, you know, look at the pros and cons. When you finally do and you do see that specialists, >> you're probably only going to be paying around 700 pesos.

[00:29:53]>> Yeah.

[00:29:54]>> You know, you compared to imagine what it would be uh, you know, on a space.

[00:29:59]>> Yeah. You're when I first came here, I've been here 11 years almost. Yeah.

[00:30:03]The first couple times even three or 400 was standard.

[00:30:07]>> Yeah.

[00:30:08]>> A specialist eye, nose and throw it guy.

[00:30:11]I think he charged me 700.

[00:30:13]>> Yeah.

[00:30:14]>> Was for a big sinus infection I had.

[00:30:16]>> But yeah, very inexpensive.

[00:30:18]>> Yeah.

[00:30:18]>> For almost everything.

[00:30:20]>> Yeah.

[00:30:21]>> And generally speaking here, what I've noticed, um, and I think it's quite nice, doctors, they don't rush you.

[00:30:29]>> When you get in to see that doctors, they take their time with you.

[00:30:33]>> Yeah. And in the in the states, for example, you know, they're the doctors are being pressured to five, six patients an hour and they better sweep in all their documentation time, you know, uh during that time as well. But you're >> that take their time.

[00:30:51]>> My wife was a a nurse all of her life and uh >> my wife my my sister in Minnesota and a little town of uh 4,000 people, four or 5,000 people and that hospital was bought up by a larger hospital out of hospitalage system out of Sou Falls, South Dakota. And she said, "Yeah, they had only certain number of minutes they could spend with a patient."

[00:31:21]>> Yeah.

[00:31:22]>> She said, "I had to lit literally drag the doctor from patient to patient."

[00:31:26]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:31:27]>> Here, my experience also is that they'll sit and talk to you.

[00:31:31]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:31:31]>> And Yeah.

[00:31:33]>> Yeah. Good experience.

[00:31:35]>> Yeah.

[00:31:36]>> Yeah.

[00:31:38]But uh yeah, one one other instance I went I think that when I went down that Saturday to for a dermatologist there I had some kind of rash on my neck or something and there w there there was no dermatologist that lady just said go see go see this doctor. She wrote the room number down and I went up there and she she looked at me and she backed away from me. She took her chair and moved further away from me.

[00:32:10]>> She didn't know what it was and she didn't want to catch her and uh she ended up giving me some prescription for some kind of sav or something. It helped a little bit, but then after a week I went to a real dermatologist and got the right stuff.

[00:32:27]And I told the dermatologist said, "That's not what you have. That's not what it is.

[00:32:36]Speaking of uh speaking of medication, just to inject uh I would recommend people that are still in your whole country thinking of coming here. Um research the medications that you are on to see if they are even able here. Um and there are sites that you can go to to do that. Uh, an easy quick way is to go on the Mercury Drug website and you can research your medication there. If Mercury Drugs, for example, does not have it, there's a very good camp that it's not going to be available in the Philippine or it might be hard to find.

[00:33:20]Um, what we did before moving here, uh, we had identified a couple of medications that were not available. So prior to uh moving here, we consulted with our docas in the states and we determined the alternatives that um we we switched to that were available easily in the filling. So that's suff people should factor it out. And like I said, under Phil L's with the YATCAP program.

[00:33:51]Um there's a very very very long list of maintenance medications that are covered uh up to 20,000 pesos per year >> and that includes common um cholesterol medications, blood pressure medications, pain medications, etc. So that's something in itself that that you know people can take advantage of that benefit >> uh that they have felt.

[00:34:19]>> And then as far as uh I I know a number of people who ship they get their prescription from the home country UK or the US or Canada wherever and they ship some things here but there are certain classes where they're they're not going to allow you to ship those out.

[00:34:38]>> Yeah. I'm not I'm not 100% none on Apple P except uh and you Mike you're referring to uh surgeon strong medication including opioids and psychotropic medications which here in this country falls under an S2 license that the doctor has to have. Now, first of all, with uh opioids and psychotrophics as examples, uh they are hard to find here, but they're not impossible to find.

[00:35:16]What you need to do is find a doctor that has the S2 license who can write the prescription for that medication.

[00:35:25]And and then you're going to need to do some footwork to find a pharmacy that has it. Um that includes um uh you know oxycodone um u the the strongs opioids uh iodins um sleeping medications uh psych meds anti including anti-depressants schizophrenia medications okay so yeah find a doctor with the S2 license.

[00:36:03]>> Yeah. I even had a uh I had a friend that was trying to get sleeping pills a couple years ago and he got a prescription from a doctor, took it to the pharmacy and they said he's not qualified to write that. So, we had to go find a different doctor that prescription.

[00:36:20]>> Exactly.

[00:36:22]>> Exactly.

[00:36:25]>> All right.

[00:36:28]We covered a lot of territory here. Is there anything else?

[00:36:31]>> Yeah. Um I'm trying to think. Um yeah, uh well, you mentioned sleep and that reminds me of a couple of things.

[00:36:41]Um first of all, uh with with sleep, for example, um in Sibu City or in the Philippines in general, it's very very hard to find uh doctors that specialize in sleep.

[00:36:55]There's only two doctors in Sibu City that specialize in sleep. Another issue which is very hard to uh get comprehensive treatment is uh mental health uh issues. Um generally speaking, this country doesn't fully acknowledge mental health. Um, I think culturally people are are hesitant to speak up about things such as depression or suicidal thoughts or what have you.

[00:37:28]Uh, so but but it is here. Uh, what's interesting in a city with approximately a million people, there's only two or three psychiatrists >> in this entire city, >> which is amazing. Uh but from what I've read and and knowing somebody who sees a specialist, a psychiatrist, they're very good. It's just it's very limited and you do have to search. Um >> yeah, that's >> Yeah. Well, the other Yeah. The other thing I' I'd want to mention is unlike the US, you always have to go through a general practitioner.

[00:38:07]>> You cannot go to a specialist here. You can go directly generally directly.

[00:38:12]>> Exactly. There is no gatekeeper. You you can go straight >> straight to the specialist. That's very true.

[00:38:18]>> If you know what's if you think you know what's wrong.

[00:38:20]>> Exactly. Exactly. And and it's it saves time. Say, you know, uh your need can get addressed that much quicker. Like I was saying, Healthway at their outpatient clinic, they have probably 10, 12 different uh specialties >> and you can just go straight to that person.

[00:38:40]>> Okay.

[00:38:40]>> Yeah.

[00:38:41]>> Just like you said, look at their schedule.

[00:38:43]>> Yeah.

[00:38:44]>> It might not be in that time of day.

[00:38:46]>> Exactly. Just look at their schedule.

[00:38:48]>> Yeah. Yeah. From there.

[00:38:50]So, yeah, I've learned a lot uh from Allan uh over the over the months and uh I I know he's got a lot of information.

[00:38:59]Uh do you take questions from >> Yeah. If anybody has any uh questions for me or wants me to elaborate on anything, um if you want to disagree with me on anything that I've discussed, uh feel free to contact me. Uh, Rod, you can put my email address, >> okay?

[00:39:20]>> Uh, in the description of the video.

[00:39:23]>> Feel free to to contact me. I'm I'm happy to help.

[00:39:27]>> Neither one of our of us are doctors and we we don't play one on TV.

[00:39:32]>> Correct. Correct. Exactly.

[00:39:34]>> So, we're not giving medical advice, >> right? No. No. I'm just speaking on my on my experience.

[00:39:39]>> This is a discussion that doesn't get get it's not discussed very often. And people we do these cost of living videos and people >> it's cost of living uh dating >> night life videos and what have you.

[00:39:53]>> Generally leave out the healthcare because it's complicated.

[00:39:56]>> Well, it's complicated and too often um people come here and they want to kick that can down the road.

[00:40:06]>> They they want to think, "Oh, I'm going to be fine. Oh, I'm healthy. Oh, I'm not on any medications."

[00:40:12]Um, oh, I'm just going to self-insure. And and to me, when I hear people say those things, what they're really saying is, I don't want to think about that.

[00:40:24]>> That's that's what I hear because uh disaster and catastrophic issues >> can happen uh with with no warning. And uh people discuss, oh, I'm I'm going to self-insure. Well, it only takes one disaster to wipe out the bank account and then what are you going to do 6 months from now if something else happens?

[00:40:47]>> Um, having money, you know, savings is good, but health insurance is to me very important. And then there's the whole uh concept of uh aspect of taking care of yourself, trying to be healthy, exercise. I do a lot of walking. I do a lot of swimming.

[00:41:10]Um, I'm trying to stay healthy. Uh, because I want to age gracefully, as they say. I don't want to, uh, crash and burn or sit on a bar stool all day. Um, I want to, you know, enjoy my life.

[00:41:26]>> Yeah. All right. Very good, Alan. Very good. Thank you for doing this interview.

[00:41:32]>> Thank you for inviting me.

[00:41:33]>> All right. Very good.