Philam Life launches 1st health policy with investment component

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philam Life) has launched the country’s first health insurance with an investment and savings component.

In a press briefing yesterday, Philam Life head of marketing Jessica Abaya said the pioneering product, called Life Invest, offers the policyholder financial protection from health-related illnesses.

 â€œIt also allows the policyholder to use earnings from the policy as it has an investment and savings component like our earlier products that offer life insurance and investment features,” Abaya said.

Thus, it means that after the 10-year period of Life Invest, the policyholder can get a large amount from the investment and savings earnings. “It is insurance and financial protection while you live,” the Philam Life official said.

It differs from Philam Life’s other health insurance, Health 100, which is basically reimbursement for medical expenses and protection.

But Abaya stressed that both are better than health maintenance organization (HMO) products, which have ceilings on amounts and a wide array of illnesses not covered by the HMO plan.

If the policyholder is diagnosed with a critical illness, amounts as high as P1 million can be reimbursed or paid out by Philam Life. In case of an accident, it can go as high as P2 million.

Premiums are worth P100,000 per year for 10 years. From the annual premiums, a “fund” will be established for each policyholder with choice of investments placed in the equity or stock market, the fixed income or bond market, and the balanced fund (a mix of equity and fixed income).

Philam Asset Management Inc. (PAMI) is the fund manager for all the funds. It is a member of the Philam Life Group and manages a basket of mutual funds ranked among the top three in the industry.

PAMI’s average return on investment for the funds ranges from eight to 15 percent.

If after 10 years, the policyholders remain healthy, then their P1 million fund would have grown by at least eight percent, or better than the standard savings rate of almost one percent.

Philam Life is a subsidiary of the AIA Group, one of Asia’s largest financial institutions located in 16 countries.

Meanwhile, Philam Life senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Rey C. Centeno said the company  would continue to introduce products that will make doing business with the country’s leading life insurance company convenient and cost-effective.

Philam Life will soon be launching ePlan, a convenient customer self-service online facility for policy inquiries, transactions and payments. It is similar to the online services major banks offer their clients.

 â€œCustomers will not have to come to Philam Life’s offices or call the hotline. Already, we have bank partners (or equivalent to 3,000 branches) that receive premiums payments for their policies,” Centeno said.