Do you feel like you are financially prepared in case someone in your family becomes sick? I read this interesting article online called “Understanding Filipino Sentiments Toward Health and Critical Illness” — a recent study which reveals that more than 50% of Filipinos feel they are financially unprepared in case of illness. It was a study conducted by Manulife Philippines amid the pandemic. They discovered that only a small percentage of Filipinos have private health insurance to cover them, while majority spend out of their pockets when sickness arise.
As the main, sole earner between me and my retired mother, my top priority is always the health of my family. Especially now that my mom is a senior, I always want to make sure her health and welfare are secured. And I know I am just one of millions of Filipinos who feel the same way for their loved ones.
Image: Dragon Pan via Unsplash
If there’s one thing this pandemic has taught us, it’s really how important health and financial stability are. Wouldn’t you agree? Now more than ever, I realized that money saved and invested is not just about one’s financial capability — it’s about having a sense of stability when times get rough, like now. And health is much more than just viral workout trends — it’s about living a good, healthy, and long life with our loved ones.
And for Filipinos, that is the most important thing — our loved ones. In fact, that study I came across also discovered that Filipinos tend to put their family’s well-being before their own, and that their top worry is of a family member being diagnosed with a critical illness.
But I don’t want to keep living in worry, and neither should you. So after a little bit more research, I discovered this — a way for us to prepare for illness, in case they ever happen.
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In line with their mission to make decisions easier and lives better for Filipinos, Manulife Philippines has this newly launched health insurance plan called HealthFlex that’s affordable and customizable. It’s the first of its kind in the Philippines to offer flexible critical illness coverage.
Why flexible? Because according to Manulife, with HealthFlex, you choose and pay only for the health coverage you need. For example, which critical illness do you want to be covered for? Cancer? Heart Attack? Stroke? Elderly Illnesses? Other critical illnesses? Or all of those mentioned? With HealthFlex, there are different bundles to choose from which range from Cancer coverage, to Cancer with Heart Attack and Stroke coverage, to a coverage of over 100 critical illnesses including heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and more.
When I read about HealthFlex, I immediately thought that this would be perfect for Filipino families, and my own family as well. My mom, most especially, would benefit from having a plan that covers Elderly Illnesses on top of other critical illnesses.
What’s amazing is that each bundle provides coverage not only for Advanced Critical Illness, but for Life Insurance and Maturity Benefit as well. Maturity Benefit is the reward the insured gets when they live to 100 years old. And even better, HealthFlex also comes with a Waiver of Premium, which permanently exempts you from paying your remaining premiums once the insured is diagnosed with critical illness. Now that’s a health insurance plan that truly looks after you.
Image: Jeniffer Araujo via Unsplash
HealthFlex also offers Add-on Benefits to help you further customize your plan:
• Early Stage Critical Illness Benefit – Provides an advance on your benefit in case the insured is diagnosed with early stage critical illness.
• Recovery Benefit – A monthly allowance for recovery after diagnosis. Can be used for meds and other recovery needs.
• 2nd Advanced Critical Illness Benefit – Additional benefit in case the insured gets a second critical illness diagnosis of either cancer, heart attack, or stroke.
• Child Critical Illness Benefit – An additional benefit if the diagnosis is a specified child-related illness.
• Male or Female Cancer Benefit – An additional benefit if the diagnosis is a specified male or female cancer.
Like you, sometimes the thought of uncertainties can make me feel a deep sense of worry, but I try to turn this fear into a motivation instead to live a healthier, more secure life. Because yes, sickness can be unavoidable, but we are not hopeless. There are plans out there like Manulife Philippines’ HealthFlex that can help us prepare and secure our loves ones and ourselves.
This pandemic has shown us that life can change drastically in an instant — but equipped with our own HealthFlex plan, we don’t have to worry about spending our hard-earned savings in case illness strikes, and we can just focus on making life every day better.
To know more about HealthFlex and to get your own bundle, get in touch with Manulife Philippines here. And follow them through the social media links below.
Manulife Philippines
www.manulife.com.ph
Facebook: @ManulifePH
Instagram: @manulifeph
More about HealthFlex here
