Patients from 🇵🇭
Treatment in Chengdu for patients from Philippines
What is different for you, specifically — visas, flights, currency, insurance and the practical questions that come up before booking.
What the Philippines sends abroad
- The largest flows are for cardiac surgery, cancer treatment, neurosurgery, kidney transplant and advanced diagnostics, most of it to Singapore, Thailand, India and the US.
- Two distinct groups: self-paying patients for whom cost is decisive, and overseas Filipino workers' dependants whose care may be partly covered by an employer or PhilHealth arrangement.
Cost, in pesos
- 待填：本币参考价格换算 —— 需按当日汇率把各术式价格换算为 PHP，并注明汇率日期
- Against Singapore and the US, China is dramatically cheaper. Against India, China is usually more expensive — so if India is your real alternative, the reason to choose China has to be the specific department, not the price.
- Add roughly 待填：住宿与生活成本估算 —— 医院附近住宿按周计 for accommodation near the hospital.
Visa
- 待填：菲律宾护照中国免签与签证要求 —— 需核实是否在单方面免签名单内；若不在，须申请 M 签证
- Either way the rule is the same: medical treatment is not a permitted purpose of ordinary visa-free entry. A treatment-led trip needs an M visa with a hospital invitation letter, which we help prepare.
Flights and language
- 待填：成都—菲律宾直飞航线与班次 —— 需核实当前航司与时刻
- Language is the easiest part: Filipino clinicians and patients generally work in English, and the hospital's international department operates in English. The gap is outside it — the pharmacy, the cashier and the ward are Chinese-only, which is where a coordinator matters.
Insurance, PhilHealth and OFW arrangements
- 待填：菲律宾保险、PhilHealth 与 OFW 安排 —— 是否覆盖境外治疗、需要哪些文件，需逐一确认
- If an employer or an insurer is paying, obtain written confirmation of what is covered before admission. Country-level or employer-level cover does not automatically put a particular Chinese hospital in network.
- You pay the hospital directly. We never handle treatment funds. Keep every invoice and the official hospital receipt — reimbursement almost always needs both.
Documents that matter for reimbursement
- Filipino patients are more likely than most to be claiming afterwards, so the paperwork should be set up on day one.
- Ask for: an itemised hospital invoice, the official receipt, an English medical certificate stating diagnosis and treatment, and the discharge summary. Tell us at admission which of these your insurer requires.
Questions from Philippines
Is China cheaper than India or Singapore?
Cheaper than Singapore by a wide margin. Usually more expensive than India — so if India is your real alternative, the reason to choose China has to be the specific department rather than the price. For cardiac surgery, transplant workup and complex oncology, the departments here operate at a volume that changes what is possible; for routine work, price should decide and India or a Philippine private hospital will often win. It is also worth separating the two questions people usually merge. Whether a hospital can treat your case at all is a capability question, and it is answered by the department's volume and equipment. Whether you can afford it is a separate question answered by the itemised quote. A centre that is excellent and unaffordable is no more use than one that is cheap and cannot help, so get both answers before choosing.
Do I need a visa, and can I get one?
It depends on whether the Philippines is currently on China's unilateral visa-free list, which changes — we verify it for your passport before you plan anything. Either way the rule is the same: medical treatment is not a permitted purpose of ordinary visa-free entry. A treatment-led trip needs an M visa with a hospital invitation letter, which we prepare. Several nationalities in the region have visa-free arrangements with China and several do not, and the list changes, so we verify the position for your specific passport rather than assuming.
My employer or PhilHealth may reimburse me. What paperwork do I need?
Set this up on day one rather than after discharge, because reimbursement almost always needs documents that are hard to obtain later. Ask for an itemised hospital invoice, the official receipt, an English medical certificate stating diagnosis and treatment, and the discharge summary. Tell us at admission which of these your insurer requires and we will make sure they are issued in the right form. Keep a scanned copy of every document before you leave China: replacing a lost receipt from abroad means corresponding with the hospital at a distance, which is slow and sometimes impossible.
Is language a problem for Filipino patients?
Least of all the markets we serve. Filipino clinicians and patients generally work in English, and the hospital's international department operates in English. The gap is outside it — the pharmacy, the cashier and the ward are Chinese-only, which is exactly where a bilingual coordinator earns their place. One caveat: English competence is not the same as familiarity with your records. If your diagnosis was worked up in the Philippines, bring the pathology slides and the DICOM files, not only the reports — a Chinese surgeon re-staging your case needs the raw material, and reports from another system are treated as a summary rather than as evidence.
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