Manulife unveils flexible life, health insurance

by Doris Dumlao-Abadilla, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 Oct 2020

Insurer Manulife Philippines has unveiled a new life and health insurance solution touted to be the first in the market to offer flexibility for customers to select the most suitable critical illness protection and add-on benefits.

“HealthFlex addresses the key findings gathered from our recent study regarding Filipinos’ sentiments toward health and critical illness, which revealed that while they are now more interested in prioritizing their health, financial readiness continues to be a challenge,” said Richard Bates, president and CEO at Manulife Philippines.

“With HealthFlex, we hope to make it easier and more affordable for Filipinos to manage their financial concerns around these critical illnesses, so they can focus on taking care of themselves and their loved ones, improving their overall health and well-being,” he added.

Bates said Manulife developed HealthFlex to cover critical illnesses with high occurrence in the country that were also among the most expensive to treat.

Customers are given the freedom to choose which types of illness they would like to be covered by advanced critical illness benefit under the plan. Four options are available: 1) cancer only; 2) cancer, heart attack, and stroke, which are perceived to be Filipinos’ top three critical illnesses; 3) cancer plus other elderly and critical illnesses; or (4) the top three illnesses, plus other elderly and critical illnesses.

“We hope that HealthFlex’s innovative features offer customers greater flexibility in both the cost and scope of their insurance coverage, giving them security and financial peace of mind where it matters,” Bates said.

Manulife HealthFlex covers customers from age zero to 70, payable in five years, 10 years, or up to age 60. As an example, a 30-year-old male can obtain P300,000 HealthFlex coverage for as low as P10,372 yearly premiums.

HealthFlex planholders may also receive guaranteed death or maturity benefits, and long life bonus in the form of dividends. Premiums will also be waived if the insured is diagnosed with a covered early stage or advanced critical illness.

On top of its core benefits, HealthFlex also gives customers a way to enhance the coverage of their plans through these add-ons:

– early stage critical illness benefit that gives 25 percent of the coverage amount;

– recovery benefit, which provides a monthly allowance if insured is diagnosed with a covered advanced critical illness;

– second advanced critical illness benefit, which provides an additional coverage, if the insured is diagnosed with a second critical illness, following the first claim;

– child critical illness benefit, covering specific child illnesses; and,

male or female cancer benefit, which gives additional benefits equal to 25 percent of face amount when insured is diagnosed with any of the specified illnesses that are common among males or females.

Based on Manulife’s recent study “Understanding Filipino Sentiments Toward Health and Critical Illness,” 77 percent of Filipinos have expressed their intent to buy insurance in the next 18 months, indicating higher awareness on health and critical illness, and the desire to be financially prepared for them.

However, 80 percent of Filipinos surveyed by Manulife believe that the cost of critical illness treatments exceeds their financial capacity, and 52 percent feel they are not financially ready in case a family member falls ill. About 54 percent of Filipinos pay out-of-pocket or use personal funds to cover such critical illnesses, while 34 percent depend on government and contributory health financing. The rest use their private health plans.