Getting Money from Insurance and Social Security for Hospitalization

I was hospitalized twice last December 2008. And we punched in around 20,000 pesos, roughly 400$, in hospital bills alone. This does not include my take medication, medical paraphernalia, and the special nurse that attended to my needsl. I think all in all, we spend 25,000-28,000 pesos, including miscellaneous expenses.

That is already a big amount for us Filipinos.

Today, I processed my medical insurance, and got about 2,400 pesos in refund. I will be getting another 1,800 pesos next week. As for social security, I will be getting 1,300 pesos as refund as well. All in all, I will be getting 5,400 pesos as refund, which is about 1/5 of my hospital expenses. By the way, I also got some discounting from the hospital because of the Philhealth (Medicare).

Well of course, it is best if I didn't get sick at all. But i am still thankful. At least, my expenses were reduced because of these refunds, thank God. My insurance is really not that much, hence the very small refund. But it is okay, I think it is better than nothing.

Two more months to go and I will be giving birth already. I really need extra money for that matter. We spent our baby money on hospital bills and medications and other miscellaneous expenses related to my confinement already. But well, these things really happen.