Alto Al Crimen Announces Schedule For Discount Medical Plan Enrollments

[NewsLady]

 

Alto al Crimen will open enrollments in the Hospital Cooperativo medical discount plan beginning on Thursday, June 15 and continung through Friday, July 14.

 

Our volunteer, Michael Butler, will be manning a table just outside Micro-Serv in Los Establos Plaza on June 15, 16, 21, 22, 29 and 30 and on July 5, 6, 13 and 14. If you enter Los Establos Plaza either from the side street or across the fountain plaza, walk to the gazebo in the center. Look toward the rear (west). Just before the walkway narrows, Michael's table with be on the right side on the sidewalk just in front of the entrance to Micro-Serv. He will be available on the dates shown above between the hours of TEN A.M. (10:00) and NOON (12:00).

 

In addition, Alto al Crimen will have a table at the Tuesday market on June 20 and July 11.

 

Though we are hoping to develop a system that will allow enrollment and payment by internet, there are complicatons related to setting up payment by PayPal that must be resolved before we can proceed with it. Unless we resolve the problems we need to overcome, this will be the last enrollment open season until December 2017-January 2018

 

THE PLAN. The Hospital Cooperative Medical Discount Plan allows discounts of 25% to 50% on services by doctors, other medical professionals and on hospital charges. Even before the discounts the charges are already low because Hospital Cooperativo is a non-profit hospita (the only one in Panama). You can find more detailed information about the plan in earlier News.Boquete emails or by looking in the Forum section of Boquete.ning.com. If later forum posts have pushed the Alto al Crimen announcements down below the first couple of pages, you may use the search function with the search term "crimen." At both Los Establos Plaza and the Tuesday Market we'll have English translations of the contract, lists of affiliated doctors and sketch maps for locating the Hospital.

 

ENROLLMENT. You will need to complete a data form that the hospital will use for completing your wallet identification card and that Alto al Crimen will use for contacting you for card delivery. You will need to bring with you a clear photo copy of your cedula (first choice), Pensionado card or other permanent residency card (second choice) or passport (third choice). Enrollments are for individuals only, so you will need to complete a data form and provide a photo copy of ID for each separate person enrolling.

 

COSTS. The annual costs for the plan are $150 for individuals or the first person in a household.and $125 for other persons in the same household. BUT because this is a mid year enrollment, we will be collecting the cost for the remainder of 2017 AND the cost for all of 2018. This is actually a convenience for you, since you will not need to enroll and pay again until 2019. And it's a lifesaver for AAC since we do not have enough board members and volunteers to manage frequent enrollment periods. Enrollment costs for this mid-year period will be $225 for individuals and first members of households and $188 for additional household members.

 

PAYMENT. You may pay by cash (exact change if possible) or by check. Checks MUST be made payable to "FUNDACION ALTO AL CRIMEN." If you pay with a check on a US bank, there will be a considerable delay for it to clear, and we cannot pay the hospital and get your ID card until the check clears. Whether you pay by cash or by check, you will be given a receipt. Our receipt stubs provide a cross check audit for enrollments and tracking dates for checks on US banks.

 

AAC HOTLINE SERVICE. Your payment will include a donation to Alto al Crimen whch will cover registration for the Emergency Bilingual AAC Hotline which you can use to call for police, fire, medical or other emergency assistance.

 

PLEASE make your decision about enrolling, and do it soon. If too many people wait until the last couple of days, there may not be enough time to process everyone.

 

As usual, we end with a reminder that Alto al Crimen is a volunteer public service organization that can always use your additional donations and assistance as a volunteer Several people have made extra donations when paying for their medical plans, and you are welcome to do so. If you would like to help us help our community, please leave your name, phone number and email address at the time you are enrolling.

 

CONTACTS. Bob Gregory - rhgusn@yandex.com

Tom Counter - studiotomaspanama@gmail.com