Be Secured, Be Insured: Take the ER Vantage

If there is one thing I dread to hear at any given time, it’s an emergency call from someone dear to me. Well, who does not?

Merriam-Webster.com defines emergency as a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action. As you can see, even the dictionary sounds a bit nervous describing it. 

Kidding aside, emergency situation is something I take seriously. That’s why I see to it that I am secured, or should I say, insured at all times. Just to make sure that I am covered if in case accidents come. This will also take away any burden from my family financially if I’ll be required to be hospitalized.

In both my personal and professional journey, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) has been dependable partners to me, my family, loved ones, friends and colleagues. HMO Philippines are life savers that we can lean on for basic medical expenses and outpatient care, medical treatment and hospitalization. This is something that employees should be thankful for if their organization gives such benefit because not all employers provide this to their workers, aside from the government health insurance plan provided by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

I just hope that companies would realize that HMO Philippines insurance plans are not mere expenses but instead, they’ll look at it as a good investment. A healthy and happy employee will work hard for organizations that take care of them and their families.

I am sharing my personal experience about our company’s health insurance provider Philcare. I underwent a medical procedure last December. Since the clinic I went to was not accredited by Philcare, I just paid in cash. After the holiday season, I filled out some documents and reimbursement claim form from Philcare and in a month’s time, I got my money back sent as a check straight to my office without me needing to call for follow-up. Bottom line is, Philcare has been my dependable ally for years now.    

That’s why I want my family to enjoy the same experience I get from this trusted company which I just found out is a pioneer and a recognized leader in the HMO industry in the country for more than three decades now.

PhilCare sets the pace for the HMO industry not only with the reliable in-patient and out-patient health care it provides, but also with the total wellness and healthy living it actively promotes.  One of their product innovations that I discovered are the ER Vantage prepaid cards for one-time use emergency care leading to admission health card for individuals 6 months to 64 years old.  It can use one-time for a private room. The card covers the patient’s emergency room care such as expenses for room and board, and necessary diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

I would like to believe that the ER Vantage card is PhilCare’s contribution to meet the healthy Filipino’s changing needs. PhilCare understands that being healthy means more than not getting sick; it also means getting you and your family prepared for any emergency.

The prices of the insurance packages are reasonable with prices. For a one-time payment of P900, P1,100, or P1,300, users can avail of P40,000.00 up to P80,000.00 worth of emergency hospitalization expenses.  Upon text registration, the card will be activated within a 7-day period. The benefit of the card runs for an entire year where the registered can avail of the emergency hospitalization at any of PhilCare’s affiliate hospitals and clinics nationwide.

Emergency cases covered by ER Vantage health cards are sudden, unexpected onset of illness or injury which at the time of availment reasonably appeared as having the potential of causing immediate disability or death or requiring immediate alleviation of severe pain or discomfort. Examples of these are dengue, typhoid fever, leptospirosis, pneumonia, acute gastroenteritis.

The bestseller among the packages is ER Vantage 80 which offers the following benefits:

a.   P80,000 coverage for emergency room care and hospitalization inclusive of doctors’ fees, laboratory and diagnostic procedures, room and board, and medicines (except vaccines) as medically necessary during confinement except for cases declared as non-coverable.

b.  Covers special modalities of treatment  as medically necessary during ER and confinement and subject to Php 5,000 inner limit.

c.  Inclusive of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures as medically necessary during ER and confinement.

d.  Covers hospital emergency care for animal bites except vaccines.

e.  Room and board: Private room.

f.  No hospital deposit required.

g.   Access to 400+ accredited hospitals nationwide (www.philcare.com.ph/erhospitals)

h.  No medical examination required to apply.

i.  Hassle-free SMS registration.


Here's a step-by-step direction on how to order a card online via www.philcare.com.ph.

Step 1: On the Philcare website, click the SHOP NOW tab.

Step 2: Browse to to the products available and click on the image of the one you would like to purchase online.

Step 3: Indicate the quantity of your order then click "Add to Cart"

Step 4. Click "Check Out" to finalize your order.

Step 5: Accomplished the online form for your delivery details.

Step 6: Choose your preferred payment option then click the "PURCHASE" button.

That easy! Now you will receive two notifications for a successful order. One will immediately appear on your screen and the other one will be emailed to you. Please see the screen shots below.

Delivery rates starts at P65 per order depending on your location. Please click HERE to see the full details of delivery fee and time frame. 

When is the best time to avail of the product? The answer is NOW! Don’t wait for any emergency to come and be sorry to find out that you are not prepared for it. 

We are not as healthy as we think we are

A few days ago, I was seating on my favorite chair at home, shirtless and eating donut while watching TV when my 5 year-old son Charles approached me, rubbed my tummy and said, “Daddy, be good to your tummy, ha?”

Yesterday, I felt a little dizzy waking up for work after I slept a little over midnight to finish a movie I downloaded online. I’ve been staying up late for movie marathons since college and this was probably the first time, as far as I can remember, that I felt like that.

And just this afternoon, PhilCare sent me a Wellness Box that includes (let me test my memory if I can still remember all the items without opening the package again) a jumping rope, a bar of calamansi soap, a bar of oatmeal soap, a pack of health tea, a bottle of seaweed mask, a bottle of organic essential oil and a health card. Hmm, I hope I did not miss any item.

With the series of signs pointing me to be a little cautious with my health, I am now thinking of ways on how to be fit again. I hate to admit it but I think I am not as healthy as I think I am. Have you asked yourself the same question lately?

By the way, the “box” that I got was from top HMO provider in the Philippines, PhilCare, which I want to commend for doing an awesome job with my health insurance for three years now.  Just recently, I heard that PhilCare, aside from providing medical and hospitalization benefits to its member, went an extra mile in coming up with a study to determine the state of health of the Filipinos in a more holistic manner. Benchmarked with similar studies conducted in developed countries, the PhilCare Wellness Index, which is the first wellness index in the Philippines, serves as an eye-opener on how Filipinos perceive leading healthy lives.

Designed, managed and analized by Dr. Fernando Paragas, a Filipino professor at the Nanyang University in Singapore commissioned by Philcare, the study involved a face-to-face interview with 1,200 respondents from Metro Manila and key cities in the country where they were asked about matters pertaining to their lifestyles as well as the nutritional, physical, psychological, and medical aspects of their lives.

The PhilCare Wellness Index, considered as a ground-breaking study to measure and uncover Pinoy’s sense of well being, shows some interesting results that I would like to share. In general, many Filipinos feel good about their health. The bad news is that they may not really be as healthy as they would like to think. We have a tendency to be in denial about our health which reflects our habit of starting to be mindful about our well-being only when we start to get sick.  

1. Most Filipinos think they are fit yet they’re not. The survey said that 54 percent of the respondents believe their weight is ideal for their height and that 54 percent think they are in overall good health. After analyzing their actual height and weight, it appears that only 45 percent of them fit the normal category applying the Asian Body Mass Index range. About 46 percent are either overweight or obese, while another 8.6 percent fall below the average BMI.

2. We know what a healthy diet is but are not eating the right food.  The PhilCare Wellness Index showed that 44 percent of respondents believe that they know what comprises a balance diet. In fact, 70 percent said they eat breakfast regularly, while about 60 percent eat fruits and vegetables daily. However, about 27 percent of them regularly eat fried or fatty food, 21 percent love eating sugary foods and drinks, and 15 percent eat processed and junk food daily.  

3. Sex matters. Lovemaking carries a big impact in a person’s morale and over all psychological well-being. The study tells that that married couples should work more to build the intimacy in the marriage because a healthy intimate moment equates to psychological health.

4. People with status “It’s Complicated” are more active in bed. Widowed and separated Filipinos are having more sex than the usual married individuals. It said that a married person do it 2.95 times per week, while a widowed person’s average is 4.33 a week. A separated person is slightly higher at 4.38.

5.  There is a lack of prevention against diseases. The PhilCare Wellness Index  also reports majority of Filipinos regularly drink alcohol. About 58 percent said they drink alcoholic beverages. They consume about six bottles or glasses of alcohol per week. About 49 percent also smoke cigarettes and, on average, they consume 10 sticks daily.

6. Work-life balance is a must but many misinterpret it.   85% of Filipinos enjoy a good work-life balance. However, 41.1percent of them admit experiencing stress slightly. The reason for this is that many still tend to relate the “happy hour” mentality as a means to achieve a balanced life. Regarding stress, many resort to binge drinking after office. This is their way to handle stress.

7.  Filipinos tend to behave when it comes to getting medical care. On the upside, 59 percent of respondent said they can easily go to a doctor whenever they get sick. Despite this, majority – or 74 percent – still admit that they self-medicate, which is a very dangerous habit of Filipinos.

So you see dear friends and countrymen, admit it or not, we are not as healthy as we think we are. When do we need to start to change our ways for a healthier life? The answer is now. Again, I’m echoing what my son said to me recently, “Be good to your tummy.” That’s one good first step we can all take in our journey towards wellness.