Every year I review and research about healthcards for my family’s sake. Ever since my son was born, we decided to set budget aside for HMO membership. This is on top of our PhilHealth. Both of which are private/voluntary accounts since we are only self-employed.
Our current provider is Medicard, so far we are happy with their service except for the rising fees every year. This year, we could barely afford the annual membership for our family of three but thank God we made it.
I looked at other HMOs then: Caritas, Maxicare, Intellicare, etc. but they were either more expensive or have very small coverage.
Philcare ERVantage
I just learned about this product from Philcare last week. To be honest, Philcare was not on my research list (I did not know about them) but an acquiantance who now works in the company told me about their products.
Essentially, PhilCare made insurance buying easier in that you can buy insurance online in 3 steps via http://www.philcare.com.ph/products/. In this post, I want to focus on reviewing the benefits, usage, and cost of ERVantage.
UPDATE: For everyone asking and want to buy from a real agent and not online – please contact my agent Ms. Susan Ariola at 09199909973. She will gladly assist everyone 🙂
ERVantage is short for ER advantage. Cases coming from the ER will be covered up to confinement i.e. Appendicitis, viral infections, dengue and more. Dreaded diseases/cases like stroke, heart attack, hypertension and more are not covered. This product is for relatively healthy persons up to 64 years old.
Personally and most of the time, our confinement are decided in the ER. It is the first place that our family goes to when for example our son gets fever for more than 3 days. Recently, I was also in the ER when the doctors found out I had dengue. My husband was also recently in the ER because of kidney stone. I guess if we used Philcare in these cases, we wouldn’t have any problems just the same as with our current HMO.
The major difference is the price. ERvantage starts at P900 to P1,300 only for 1 year. The coverage starts at P40,000 to P80,000. However, unlike a regular or the usual healthcard ERvantage is for one time use only. For multiple use products that are not limited to ER leading to admission, check PhilCare HealthVantage.
Another difference to note is that ERvantage as mentioned earlier does not cover the more serious dreadeD diseases, including epidemics think (mers-cov) that would be declared by DOH.
Two of my family members are now using PhilCare ERvantage 80 (P1,300) , it is my gift to them since I cannot afford to gift them with the traditional healthcard but come to think of it, it offers almost the same feeling of security & preparedness when time of illness comes. ERVantage 80 includes private confinement.
Actual card that will be delivered to your door
Although I don’t wish for them to get sick, I am anxious to know how it would be like to use Philcare healthcard in actuality.
From the website, you only need to present your card which I recommend that you laminate (it’s carton-like and not made of plastic) just as you will with a traditional healthcard. The list of hospitals is listed on their site, for ERvantage the top hospitals like St. Lukes and Medical City are not included. I am happy to see though that almost all hospitals in our town in Cavite where we live are included.
Since this product is single-use regardless if you used up the P80,000 or not, once you use it you will need to buy another card if you want continuous coverage. Not bad at all for the price.
Philcare Healthvantage
Since we are currently with another HMO this year, I am seriously considering Philcare as a reasonable alternative next year especially if we can no longer afford the traditional HMO. For my family I would prefer the HealthVantage, slightly more expensive at P6,500 but includes the top hospitals and can be used multiple times. This can be used for both emergency and elective cases up to admission plus accident and life insurance coverage.
Because dreaded/serious conditions are not covered, a good option is to get a separate critical illness insurance (maybe Sun LifeAssure that starts at P4,000) to compliment your Philcare coverage.
Philcare will release more products soon, here’s hoping more serious cases can be included even with a more expensive price so that all of us can have a convenient and comprehensive health coverage all in one and have a worry-free life 🙂
P.S. I am not yet a certified & registered financial planner but if you are interested in any products mentioned here, I can refer you to my trusted agents. Just leave a comment below.
