Photo: AIA
“Time and health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted” – Denis Waitley
I recently came across the FB posts of two friends, who are both financial advisors, about two contrasting stories of their clients. The post of my friend G showed his text exchanges with her client who expressed feeling of relief and gratitude after G gave her assurance that her medical insurance policy will pay out upon her cancer diagnosis and during the course of her treatment. On the other hand, the post of my friend Y was a message from her frantic client asking if the lapsed insurance policy (with critical illness rider) of her husband can still be reinstated since her husband was diagnosed to have heart disorder and will require long term medical treatment. The wife was worried that their modest savings will be depleted. Unfortunately, the policy can no longer be reinstated.
Two stories of critical illness. Two stories of pain, suffering and fear. Two stories of fight towards healing. But only one can focus on treatment and recovery with less financial worries.
There are 3 life uncertainties that we cannot prevent from happening but we can be prepared for: dying too soon, getting sick or getting too old. Each one brings a certain level of scare and stress, especially when you have not prepared for it. It used to be that of these life events, death is the topmost concern of the Filipinos. But of late, more and more Filipinos show high level of worry about getting sick and their overall financial preparedness.
A study conducted by Manulife Phils, shows that the Filipinos’ top 5 health fears and worries are family member being diagnosed with critical illness, accident, contracting critical illness, death of a family member and becoming a burden to the family when they acquire critical illness.
While more than 60% consider health as their priority, a significant portion (52%) feels they are not financially ready in case a critical illness hits them or any of their family members. Not only do they believe that critical illness treatments is too costly, they are also not confident that they have enough savings to cover the high cost. Reality check: If you will be asked today, from a scale of 1 to 10, how ready are you to cover a serious medical treatment out of your own pocket?
Under the Universal Health Care Act (RA 11223), 100% of Filipinos are automatically covered by the national health insurance program, PhilHealth. However, most of you will agree that Philhealth coverage, even with the Zero Balance Billing policy, is not enough, especially when we talk about critical illnesses. A sadder truth is 3 out of every 5 Filipinos do not have access to private medical insurance. No wonder 44.7% of Filipinos ends up using their own money to pay their medical needs and depleting their life-time savings.
Considering the rising cost of medical expenses and our unreliable health care system, it becomes very important to invest in private health insurance. It may be appear to be costly but the many features and advantages it offers, like critical illness benefits, hospitalization allowances, surgical expenses assistance, disability benefits, and life insurance, which are not available in public health care, far outweigh its perceived high cost.
While a private health insurance may not 100% cover all your medical bills, it will surely reduce your out of pocket expenses and prevent you from draining your savings. Aside from financial protection, it also gives you peace of mind during a stressful period in your life. Instead of worrying and looking for possible sources of money to cover the medical bills, you can focus on getting well or on taking care of your loved ones. That’s the peace of mind the client of advisor G experienced, knowing that her insurance benefits will allow her to receive the necessary medical treatment and work on her recovery without much worries of its financial implications. In contrast, we can just imagine the stress and anxiety of advisor Y’s client knowing they had to cover majority of the medical expenses out of their own pocket which can lead to financial bankruptcy.
And since most health insurance plans come with life insurance, you can be comforted knowing that your family will be financially taken care of even when you are no longer in the picture. In the worst case scenario where both clients of advisors G and Y will not make it, we already know whose family will be financially protected.
Sadly, more Filipinos are in the same situation as that of advisor Y’s client. They need help.
The different health insurance providers can do its part to help close or bridge the gap in our health care system. They can make their products and services better and more accessible. This includes, simplifying the process of getting private medical insurance, having a wider network of healthcare providers, and offering a more comprehensive coverage of medical treatments and procedures. For its part, the government can also extend subsidies or tax credits to make private health insurance more affordable for our regular employees, especially the minimum wage workers. It’s not that the government does not have the money, they just have to allocate and use the budget properly.
But while the above are still to be worked on, we are left to take care of our “medical” preparedness on our own. Now, while you’re still healthy, is the right time!
Just like the thief in the night, sickness/illness can hit us in the most unexpected time and manner. And when it does, we can only pray and hope that we are financially prepared for it. Either by having enough savings to pay for all of the medical expenses or by having a health insurance plan. The choice is ours to make…
