Philam Life, top HMOs offer group insurance for cancer

MANILA, Philippines - Philam Life and top healthcare companies have embarked on a program to fortify efforts to save cancer patients by launching a group insurance program for them.

In a launching ceremony last Monday, Insight TechSystems Inc. managing director Jong Merida said they came up with the program to make cancer treatment affordable through a group insurance system.

“The worst thing that can happen to someone is to have a loved one who is diagnosed with cancer… especially if you have no means to underwrite the treatment. It requires huge amount of resources to overcome,” he noted.

But through the program, Merida claimed there would be a funding mechanism for these patients, strengthening their chances of surviving the disease.

“To many, the word ‘cancer’ is synonymous with the word ‘death.’ But through this program, we hope to equip (our members) with adequate resources to right cancer,” he added.

The program was developed by leading insurance company Phillam Life but will be included in the insurance packages of its partner-health maintenance organizations (HMO) Intellicare, Maxicare, Medicard, PhilCare and ValueCare, along with advocacy partners Roche, People Management Association of the Philippines, L’Oreal Philippines, Magnolia Lifedrink and Insight TechSystems.

Under the program, the HMOs will make group insurance packages available for its clients, lowering the cancer treatment cost by as much as 95 percent.

It is estimated that cancer treatment can cost some P8,000 to P70,000 a year but through the program, the amount will be reduced to P300 to P2,000 annually depending on the package.

The program provides higher health coverage at affordable premiums by pooling the risks of a large group of people to subsidize the needs of individuals in the group who may develop cancer.

According to Philam Life assistant vice president for Corporate Solutions Victoria Estacio, the program would be included in the existing HMO insurance coverage packages offered to companies, institutions and other groups as an add-on.

Estacio said the insurance program includes assistant packages for members in case they succumb to cancer. But if not used, the amount would be turned over to cancer patients groups.

She, however, clarified that those who already have cancer would not be enrolled just like in regular insurance policies. Dependents can be covered, depending on the insurance packages acquired by clients.

Records of the World Health Organization’s Globocan Project showed that there were some 77,200 new cancer cases diagnosed in 2008 in the Philippines. Some 48,300 of them died.

The study showed that the most common cancer sites in the country are breast, lung, liver, colorectal and cervix.

But Estacio underscored the need for everyone to observe a healthy lifestyle to prevent cancer which she said is highly curable and preventable.

“We just need to know what to do to prevent cancer. Cancer is not unbeatable,” she said.

Estacio added that cancer and other diseases could be kept at bay if one would only eat healthy food, do regular exercises, drink alcohol moderately, avoid smoking and sun exposure and undergo appropriate vaccination.