ENROLLMENT OPEN SEASON FOR THE ALTO AL CRIMEN/HOSPITAL COOPERATIVO MEDICAL DISCOUNT PLAN.
Again on December 26, Alto al Crimen will be at the Tuesday Market to make available for renewals and new enrollments the Hospital Cooperativo discount medical.
Hospital Cooperativo is the ONLY non-profit hospital in Panama. It offers a wide range of basic medical services and has nineteen affiliated doctors plus a number of psychologists and nutritionists.
GOOD NEWS! Beginning in January 2018, a new doctor will be affiliated with the hospital. She is the daughter of Doctor Luis Wong, the hospital administrator. Dra. Wong is a radiologist and will be managing the X-ray and ultrasound imaging facilities. She speaks ENGLISH! Dra. Wong has been practicing medicine in Spain.
The medical plan has no age limits, no waiting period and no pre-existing condition restrictions.
Discounts apply to doctor consultations, hospital services, hospital room charges, operating room services, prescription drugs at the pharmacy and emergency room services. Discounts range from 25% to 30% for most services and 50% for emergency room services. And the discounts are off already very low prices because the hospital is non-profit.
Because the Alto al Crimen emergency bilingual hotline will be closing down, fees for the plan will no longer include donations to AAC. The charge for the plan will be $120 per person. A separate contract and information sheet will be required for each person. Also, a clear, legible copy of each person's ID must be provided. Copies of Cedulas are preferred, but if you have a Pensionado Card or Passport, copies of them are also acceptable. We are in a transitional stage of offering this service and will need payment in cash only. All proceeds will go the the hospital.
Alto al Crimen will have a table at the BCP Tuesday market on December 26 from about 9 AM until Noon. We plan to offer other enrollment or renewal opportunities until January 16. But please do not delay. If too many people wait until the last minute to enroll, there will not be enough time for everyone.
Below is a copy of the information sheet we need to have for each enrollee. If you copy it and print the number of copies you will need, you can complete the forms and bring them with you. That will make your enrollment work faster and better. Be sure to complete the form in clearly legible block letters. Your address does not need to contain detailed information because it is not used for dispatching ambulances or other emergency services. We need this form for both new enrollments and for renewals.
NAME [NOMBRE] ______________________________________
As on passport or id.or resident ID or passport number
EMAIL ADDRESS ______________________________________
PHYSICAL ADDRESS (direccion) (Use community name or area such as: Alto Boquele, Boquete, Los Naranjos, etc.)
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
TELEPHONE NUMBER __________________________________
BLOOD TYPE & RH FACTOR (+ or - ) _______________
This confidential information will he used to complete your wallet Membership card and will be used to notify you when your card is available to be picked up.
Replies
Some comments about the Hospital Cooperativo discount medical plan.
First, as many of you have discovered, after a certain age it is very difficult to acquire medical insurance coverage, or very expensive, or both. Some people end up having no insurance at all or paying very high premiums (sometimes $2,000 to $5,000 per year). Then, if you do acquire medical insurance and pay the high premiums, you may not need to use it over the next year, and the high premium is gone forever. You have to pay it again for the next year.
One solution to this problem is to use the discount medical plan of Hospital Cooperativo (which only costs $120 per person per year) for all of your routine and minor medical care and save the premiums you would otherwise pay in a separate savings account for larger medical expenses, emergency or otherwise. If you don't need to use it in a given year, it will still be there in case you need it in another year. You can keep adding to it instead of paying premiums that are gone every year whether you need services or not.
And, of course, if, for some reason, you cannot get medical insurance, you can still get the Hospital Cooperativo plan for a low cost and still accumulate some savings to go toward extraordinary medical expenses.
Some medical insurance has waiting periods, exceptions, pre-existing condition limitations, etc., so Hospital Cooperativo is also a good alternative in such cases, because it has none of those limitations.
Hospital Cooperativo Discount Medical Plan coverage can be an excellent alternative for having good medical care at low cost. Come to see us on December 26 at the Tuesday Market.
Here is a recent photo of the hospital.
Several people are interested in seeing a list of doctors affiliated with Hospital Chiriqui. I'm posting it here so that it is available along with the announcement above.
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DOCTORS AFFILIATED WITH HOSPITAL COOPERATIVO
CARDIOLOGY
Dr. Jose Rangel
SURGERY
Dr. Jose Isabel Gonzalez
DERMATOLOGY
Dr. Abel Espin
Dra. Zulay Saldana
PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION
Dr. Eric Cabrera
PHYSICAL THERAPY
Lic. Fabian Martinez
GYNECOLOGY
Dr. Manual Heredia
Dr. Marcos Achurra
Dra. Ana Lio Becerra
INTERNAL MEDICINE
Dr. Caesar De Gracia
Dr. Amilcar Hurtado
Dr. Carlos Shellhorm
Dr. Ruben Castillo
NUTRITIONIST
Licda. Lilia Franco
ORTHOPEDIST
Dr. Esteban Munoz
OTOLARYNGOLOGIST
Dra. Alma Pedroza
PEDIATRICIAN
Dr. Antonio Jones
Dr. Manual Thomas
PSYCHOLOGIST
Lic. Lourdes Serrano
Lic. Fatima Pitti
Lic. Luis Vallester
Lic. Yarmein Flauzil
Lic. Eanny Nunex
REUMATOLOGIST
Dr. Cesar Fraize
UROLOGIST
Dr. Reinaldo Ross
Dra. O'brien
Calls for appointments may be made to Hospital Cooperativo at 775-6666. The hospital operator may refer you to another number.