IF WE go back a few years ago, the word “insurance” is a taboo topic in the community. It’s one of those stalls in the malls with employees handing out flyers to people passing by. Mallgoers eventually learned to just ignore and walk away from them for whatever specific reason. It could be that Filipinos, in general, are overwhelmed with the idea of investments and waiting for the harvest season some years in the future is just too much for us.
Or it could also be because there had been instances in the past when people were “scammed” of insurance or the insurance company got bankrupt bringing down the drain the people’s hard-earned money.
But over the years, different insurance companies got back on their feet and slowly earned back the trust of the Filipinos. Although, some are still hesitant, many Filipinos have grown to be open-minded of insurance.
Insurance basically come in three general groups: (1) Life Insurance, which ensures that the people who depend on the client will receive a sum of money on his or her demise; (2) Travel Insurances, protects the client from any occasion of flight cancellations, accidents, losses, and medical expenses; and (3) Health Insurance, covers medical expenses of the client or their dependents.
PhilHealth and Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) can only cover so much. Health insurance companies would like clients to treat their policies as a cushion that will catch them during financial challenges in their lives.
According to Amanda Bonife-Kiamko, a Davao-based Senior Financial Advisor of AXA Philippines, the rule to buying health insurance is “the earlier the better”. This is because health plans are cheaper when the policy holder is younger.
“It’s low on cost and you get to lock in that figure at the age that you get the plan. You have lesser health issues and concern while young so issue of insurability is higher,” shared Bonife-Kiamko.
This was also agreed upon by Philam Life financial advisor in Davao Christine Gay Bayang Boborol, “Age plays an important role in every insurance application. Your premium payments will actually depend on how old you are. So the younger you are, the lower the premium.”
As a popular multivitamins advertisement goes, “Bawal magkasakit.” The expenses can get very scary and way beyond the family’s budget. Heart attack, which is one of the leading causes of deaths in the Philippines, would cost the patient at least a million to treat. Lung cancer, almost P3 million; Breast cancer, almost half a million pesos, and the list goes on.
Christine highlighted three health insurance policies their clients can choose from.
“AIA Critical Protect 100 is a plan that protects you against 100 critical illnesses from age 0 to 100 while the Active Health Invest Plus lets you invest in your health and enjoy rewards for living a healthier lifestyle. On the other hand, Active Joint Critical Project is a joint life plan that covers you and your loved one so you can take care of their health as you take care of yours,” shared Christine.
AXA Philippines, for their part, offers the Global Health Access (GHA) which provides medical coverage wherever you are in the world with up to P150 million worth of extensive medical coverage.
Health Max is another health plan of lifetime coverage versus 74 critical illness conditions.
“It has a guaranteed medical coverage until age 100 even after you have retired... Health Max has a comprehensive list of covered major conditions including the most common and top diseases such as heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes, renal failure, cancer, and angioplasty,” said Amanda.
To know more about health insurance and how you can start investing on a policy, talk to your financial advisor now.