Why MEDICard is the HMO Toyota trusts

Working at Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMP) sounds very cool. Here, the Company provides the perfect workplace for its Team Members — a work environment that fosters play and creative thinking.

For one, its plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna looks more like a country club than an office. Fruit-bearing trees are everywhere and the lawns are perfectly manicured. The surroundings are so clean you can’t find dried leaves or even a single candy wrapper on the sidewalk.

A short walk from the main building is the Toyota Activity Center where Team Members can engage in fitness training, go wall climbing, play basketball, badminton and billiards during their free time.

“The automotive industry is a very competitive industry. Here, in TMP, we aim for excellence in our products and services. How can we achieve that if our Team Members aren’t happy with what they’re doing; if they’re not satisfied with their job or the company they work for? So, we provide them with these little perks,” says Ma. Cristina Fe Arevalo, vice president for Human Resources. 

Toyota sure knows how to motivate their Team Members (that’s how they refer to their employees). Aside from their monthly transportation allowance, there’s a free shuttle bus that brings each one of them to and from work; their meals are subsidized by the company, and they also receive medicine allowance annually.

So, I wasn’t so surprised when I learned from Arevalo that Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation received an award from the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP).

PMAP is a professional, non-stock, not-for-profit organization of over 1,800 companies belonging to top corporations and individual management executives engaged or interested in human resource management and industrial relations work.

TMP president Michinobu Sugata receives the PMAP Employer of the Year trophy from PMAP president Schubert Caesar Austero.

“PMAP gives recognition to companies that show performance and excellence by developing their people through dynamic HR practices and systems. And it’s definitely an honor for the company to be recognized by the organization. (This year, TMP was nominated by an external force, who was impressed with the way the Company treats and motivates its Team Members),” enthuses Arevalo.

A Healthy Partnership

TMP, which produces the Innova and the Vios “that are among the best in the world,” has a lean and mean organization. Multi-tasking is encouraged among Team Members to optimize productivity levels.

“We really try to do a lot of multi-tasking whether it’s in the office or the production line. As much as possible, we try to achieve at least 97 percent production efficiency,” notes Jose Maria Aligada, first vice president for General Administration Division.

The plant has over 1,300 regular employees and 300 temporary workers, who form part of the growing Toyota family. And with such a demanding job, how does Toyota ensure wellness in the workplace?

“We have a number of wellness programs in place. We have our own Industrial Health Services here in our plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna. Our clinic is manned by company physicians and nurses. We also provide dental services. On top of that, we made sure that all Team Members are covered by MEDICard,” says Arevalo.

MEDICard is the first and only HMO provider of TMP. In fact, their partnership started way back in the early 1990s.

“One of the first benefits introduced by our Labor Management Council in 1991 was healthcare through MEDICard for the employees. Soon after, we felt that our Team Members would feel better if their loved ones are similarly covered. So, we decided to adopt a mechanism to subsidize the healthcare cost of a fixed number of family members. We don’t consider it our obligation but because of the level of cost involved, we thought it best to subsidize part of the expenditure and that has been our system for over 10 years now,” explains Aligada.

According to Aligada, one of the reasons why Toyota chose MEDICard among competitors is that MEDICard is hospital-based. You can just go to any partner hospital and have your medical procedures done with ease. “MEDICard also has an extensive accreditation of doctors, specialists and hospitals all over the country,” he adds.

MEDICard sales and business development manager Miriam Villafuerte, TMP first vice president Jose Ma. Aligada, TMP vice president Ma. Cristina Fe Arevalo, and MEDICard marketing manager Kate Cruz

Now in its 25th year, MEDICard is one of the pioneers in the HMO industry in the country.

“What differentiates us from other HMO providers is that MEDICard is founded, operated, and run by doctors. All our products and services are reviewed by the doctors themselves. The results of the tests are also reviewed and supervised by physicians. And by doing so, the doctors understand and know what the patients really need. Our doctors are aware of the latest, not only in terms of technology, but also with regard to medical treatments,” explains Kate Cruz, marketing manager, MEDICard Philippines, Inc.

On top of the MEDICard healthcare insurance, Toyota Team Members are also provided with hospitalization insurance in the event that they get hospitalized, undergo surgery, or get afflicted with a life-threatening disease.

“So for every day of hospitalization, our employees will get extra cash. We also have the Stop-Loss Benefit Program in partnership with MEDICard. Every year, we allocate a certain budget for our Team Members in case of catastrophic illnesses like cancer. So if a Team Member is diagnosed with cancer, he gets an extra P200,000 health coverage for his chemotherapy treatments on top of the dreaded disease limit. If it’s the dependent who gets afflicted, he gets P100,000,” notes Aligada.

The budget for the Stop-Loss Benefit Program is shouldered solely by Toyota. The company regards Team Members’ health and well-being as a priority issue. In fact, the company has been offered lower rates by other HMOs but “we decided to continue with our partnership with MEDICard. Cost is just one of the many factors we considered in choosing our HMO.  We are happy with the fact that MEDICard values the well-being of our Team Members as much as we do, and that they have the system and the network of doctors to ensure our employees are given the healthcare they need anytime they need it.”

“At Toyota, we have an HR mission statement which goes: ‘We are committed to develop the total well-being of our Team Members.’ And when you speak of total well-being, that includes employees’ health. That’s why it’s important to have a reliable HMO provider, which in our case is MEDICard, because together we can fulfill our commitment to our employees,” adds Arevalo.