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As you age, maintaining good health becomes a top priority. That’s why securing health insurance is important for managing medical expenses. It’s a good thing that the Philippines has several insurance providers offering tailored health plans for senior citizens. To help you select the perfect option, this guide will explore the top health insurance plans in the country.

What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance is a type of financial protection that helps cover the cost of medical care. It works by paying for part or all of the expenses of doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries, medications, and other medical services. In exchange for this coverage, you’ll need to pay the insurance provider a monthly or annual premium.

Although automatic Philhealth coverage is part of a senior citizen’s right, having separate health insurance can still be beneficial. For one, it gives you access to a broader range of medical services, including specialized treatments, outpatient care, and higher-cost procedures that Philhealth doesn’t cover. Ultimately, it gives you peace of mind to access medical services without financial strain.

What’s the difference between health insurance and a health card? 

A health card is a physical membership card provided by Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) or insurance companies. It gives you access to doctors, hospitals, and clinics within the HMO’s network. Thus, it helps you reduce the costs of medical services. However, the downside of health cards is that you can only enjoy their benefits for one year or until you use up the package.

Meanwhile, a health insurance plan offers more benefits and access to a broader range of healthcare providers and services. It often covers long-term care, critical illnesses, and surgeries. Depending on the plan, the cash benefit is more significant than a health card. Furthermore, health cards often only provide coverage until 65 years old, while health insurance offers coverage until 100.

Also Read: LIST: Best HMO Providers in the Philippines 2024

Top Health Insurance Plans for Senior Citizens in the Philippines

Here are our recommendations for the five best health insurance packages for Filipino senior citizens:

SUN Senior Care Plan

Sun Life’s SUN Senior Care Plan is specifically designed for senior citizens ever-changing life and health protection needs. We recommend this plan for anyone planning their retirement and wanting to secure their loved one’s future. Here is a quick summary of the Senior Care Plan’s coverage:

Benefits

• Access to Health Preventive Care Services
• Special Access to GoWELL Wellness Program
• Covers 17 Advanced-Age Critical Illness (CI) and CI-related expenses
• One-time special benefit for specific covered surgeries/conditions

Additional Benefits

• Death Benefit
• Guaranteed Cash Value
• Limited Payment Terms
• Dividend Earnings

Kaiser Senior Care Plan

Kaiser International’s Senior Care Plan offers comprehensive health insurance for senior citizens aged 61-100 in the Philippines. What we like about this coverage is you can choose between a 250K, 500K, or 1M plan. Here’s a breakdown of its benefits:

• Reimbursement of actual hospitalization expenses based on coverage
• Your choice of doctor, hospital, and specialist
• Medical Healthcare Benefits of up to ₱1 million
• One-year coverage upon the plan’s effectivity
• Guaranteed renewal up to age 100

One disadvantage that we found about this plan is it doesn’t cover pre-existing illnesses, such as tuberculosis, diabetes, and arthritis, within the first 12 months. However, it will cover dreaded diseases like stroke, lupus, and meningitis after 24 months of continuous membership.

Also Read: Best Life Insurance Companies in the Philippines (2024)

PhilCare VidaCare Core

What we like about PhilCare’s VidaCare Core Plan is that it offers multiple-use benefits for unlimited medical consultations from its accredited network of medical professionals. Plus, it provides unlimited laboratory and diagnostic procedures from Philcare-owned clinics nationwide. Here’s a quick look at its benefits:

• Age Eligibility – 60 years old and above
• Validity – One year upon activation date (benefits start seven days after activation)
• Benefits – One year of unlimited consultations from Philcare-accredited medical professionals nationwide, outpatient laboratory and diagnostic procedures at Philcare-owned clinics/MedHub, and HeyPhil Digimed consultations 

This plan’s disadvantage is that it only offers outpatient laboratory and diagnostic procedures to select clinics in the Philippines, such as Makati, Mandaluyong, Cubao, and Cebu. However, it does cover consultations for pre-existing conditions, except developmental or psychiatric disorders.

Paramount Direct Primecare Cash Plan

Paramount Direct’s Primecare Cash Plan is also a great option for senior citizen health insurance in the Philippines. It aims to help seniors ease the burden of hospitalization by offering plans ranging from 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, or 4,000. Here’s a quick look of its features:

• Age Eligibility – 50-75 years old
• Benefits – Daily cash benefit, daily Intensive Care Unit (ICU) benefit, and surgical cash benefit

Like other plans, the Primecare Cahs Plan doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions. But it will cover hospitalization caused by an illness diagnosed during your policy’s effectivity.  

iCare MedConsult

Insular Health Care’s (iCare) MedConsult is a prepaid health plan that gives you access to medical consultations and dental services. It’s ideal for members one-year-old and above, including seniors aged 65 and up. Here are the benefits included in the MedConsult plan:

• Four face-to-face consultations with iCare-accreditated health specialists
• One year of unlimited access to telemedicine or over-the-phone consultations through iCare Telemed7
• Unlimited dental services through iCare’s Dental Network
• Dental services (ex., oral hygiene instruction, annual dental examination, unlimited temporary filings, etc.)

The disadvantage of this plan is that it only covers a limited number of medical services. It doesn’t include pregnancy-related cases, aesthetic-related cases, eyes, nose, and throat (ENT) procedures, and behavioral disorders, among others.

The Final Verdict

Choosing the best health insurance in the Philippines for senior citizens can be difficult because you have your own needs. That’s why we recommend you assess your medical needs and budget when selecting the ideal coverage.

But if you want our recommendation, we highly favor Kaiser International’s Senior Care Plan. After all, it offers a comprehensive range of medical healthcare benefits of up to ₱1 million and reimburses actual hospitalization expenses, to name a few. Thus, you can focus on healing instead of worrying about hospital bills.

Health Insurance for Senior Citizens in the Philipines: FAQs

For more information on senior citizen health insurance, here are answers to frequently asked questions:

What are the three types of health insurance in the Philippines?

In the Philippines, there are three types of health insurance: Philhealth, traditional health insurance, and HMO plans.

Is PhilHealth a health insurance?

Yes, Philhealth is a type of health insurance owned by the Philippine government. Under Republic Act 9994, senior citizens are automatically entitled to its coverage.

What is better, health insurance or HMO?

It depends on your medical needs and budget. Health insurance offers a broader range of medical services and providers but costs more than an HMO plan.

Sources: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)

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