Chinese General Hospital - Avoid if possible! (review)

I recently underwent an operation to remove gallstones. It would have been perfect, save for one thing: The insurance company did not pay for my operation. I was left with a bill of almost 100,000 pesos!

After much pondering, I now know that the problem was with the hospital itself.

Usually, based on experience, once you go into a hospital, you give them your health card and then, they would cross-reference it with your plan versus the procedure that they would be performing.

I remembered asking them to make sure that the procedure was covered. The doctors kept reassuring me that, yes, it was covered. What they failed to inform me was that they did not swipe the health card, nor did they call the insurance company Intellicare. They just asked my mom, a civilian, with no knowledge whatsoever of how to deal with insurance companies, to call Intellicare and verify if I was on "active" status. Of course, my membership was active!

I went to the hospital at around 10AM... the surgery was scheduled at 7AM the following day. The funny thing was, Intellicare only informed us that it was not covered during the time that I was in the recovery room of the ER.

They could have at least informed me prior to my surgery. I ended up a prisoner of Chinese General Hospital since I had no money to pay for the surgery. But through God's help, and through the aid of family and friends, enough money was raised. I was literally a prisoner. I was not allowed to go out of the ward. I asked to be transferred to the charity ward, but they said that I have to pay the entire bill before they can transfer me there. Ironic right?

One of these days, I would find a way to abolish that policy of theirs. I heard there was a woman who gave birth and was not able to pay her bills. She has stayed in the hospital for 1 year.

I have more to say, but will just probably edit this at a later time. We are looking at possible legal actions against the hospital.

♥ Have a blessed day, person reading my blog ♥

How to go to BIR Intramuros - RDO 030 and 031

I have looked for instructions to BIR in Intramuros all over the net and found none. Hence, I'm putting up an easy to follow guide. As long as you know how to get to Quiapo, its easy. I went there last week to have my RDO code updated to 031. FYI, they have both 030 and 031 RDO alongside each other.

So basically, the easiest way is via LRT. Go down Carriedo station and walk till you reach Quiapo church. Go towards the right side of the church - right side means the church's right when you are facing the front of the church. You'll know because it's where the jeepneys pass by. Ride a jeep with the sign that says PIER 15. You can ask them to drop you off at BIR, or just look for the Jollibee that looks like this:

This Jollibee would be at the right side of the road once you pass it.
That blue and yellow jeepney there is the Pier15 jeep.

Here are some other landmarks. First thing you see once you alight the jeepney is this statue:

Walk towards the opposite direction from where the statue is facing. If you're facing this statue like how I took the picture, then walk towards the right.

The walkway below leads towards the building entrance.

And this is the building entrance:

This first building houses RDO 030. For RDO 031, you have to go towards the back of the building where there is a path leading to the next building. I couldn't take enough pictures because I was in a rush, but somehow, at least you would know what to expect when going there.

I went there during summer, so a word of advice: bring an umbrella, a pen, something to drink and a hand fan.

Have a blessed day, person reading my blog. ♥