My 2-year old son was hospitalized again last week and it got me thinking about whether it makes good sense to get a health card.
When my husband and I decided to enroll the entire family into his company’s health program, we did it mostly for our peace of mind and not based on some proof from an Excel worksheet that it will eventually pay off. Unless you know how often your children are going to get sick, I don’t see any way of finding out exactly if the P1,500 per month expense for all our health cards will be worth it.
Based on simple computations for 2007, it appears that getting a health card worked for us – at least for last year. Consider the figures:
Our annual payment (Feb. 2007 to Feb. 2008) amounted to = P18,000
All our hospital bills for the period including doctor consultations covered by the HMO = P35,774
Dental consultations and cleaning = P2,700
Total expenses versus payments = P38,474 versus P18,000
Not bad. I’m sticking with an HMO despite some bad rap on the industry in the media. I will just have to make sure I only get one with good reputation. For those who are looking for a good HMO, most of the well-known companies are listed in this website’s directory. The Department of Health website also has this PDF file of HMOs.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Go for a good HMO if you can afford it and maximize usage by having regular check ups kahit small problem only. Maybe the loopholes tony mentioned are the pre-existing illness. If you have good HR n your company, they should be able to get a good deal. Am not working with HMO but made good use of it. I got cancer and fortunately, it took care of my medical
February 28th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
i have experienced a lot of HMO from my but what i can recommend best is Medicard. They are very accommodating to the member’s needs.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I’ve a medicard and whenever I get sick I can depend on them. I also got one for my mom and she’s satisfied with their services.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:14 am
salve, what’s your HMO?
February 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I’m “lugi” when it comes to HMO. i’ve yet to use it but it’s ok, my company’s paying for it
plus one of my dependents…
it’s true, i had to leave a pricey specialist for another since he’s not accredited by our HMO.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I would not recommend an HMO. They usually have many loopholes which prevent you from getting their help when it really matters. I would suggest getting medical insurance. One of the most reasonable and dependable is the Blue Cross medical insurance (not Blue Cross HMO). Check it out.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Is there a more updated directory? It was last updated 2005 — three years ago. I don’t see my HMO — Caritas, plus CAP is still there.
I wish there was a side-by-side comparision matrix for HMO companies, showing their features to help readers choose based on their specific needs.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Before your readers rush to apply for medical insurance, please make sure your prospective HMO has an office within major hospitals and that procedures covered are clearly and explicitly stated in the policy. My husband’s HMO office in St. Luke’s decided to transfer outside the hospital and it’s a big hassle just going to their office and waiting in line everytime we need to have procedures approved.
I can’t count the number of times we had to haggle with my husband’s HMO (as if we were buying fish in some wet market) for inclusion of certain vital procedures prescribed by the HMO’s accredited doctor! They tend to forget they are dealing with people’s comfort, health and human life because they scrimp on expenses in an unreasonable way. Many times we were forced to consult with whoever doctor happens to be in their office. And because the doctor’s competency does not satisfy us enough, we end up going to another doctor and eventually paying for it.
Ask for HMO recommendations from those around you. And check the status of the company once in a while to make sure they can still honor claims.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I hope your son is better now. It’s good that both my husband and my company provide health insurance so we don’t need to pay for the check-up and the medicines except for meds that is in the exclusion list i.e. hormones, vitamins.
The government also provide free healthcare. My hubby when he had an operation, paid only anout P30 for the pain reliever given to him when he got out of the hospital.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
For double income families, it would be good to compare the medical benefits provided by each company. In our case, both our employers used the same HMO but the benefits were very different.
For those looking for a good HMO, make sure to ask for an updated list of accredited doctors in the hospital nearest you.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
salve, do you think i should get an HMO when i get to reimburse medical, dental, optical expenses from my employer?