Here’s An Affordable, Family-Friendly Insurance Against Cancer And Heart Diseases

We’re pretty sure you have a relative or a friend or a friend’s relative that you’ve heard suffered from heart disease or cancer. It’s heartbreaking but not surprising since it’s some of the most common illnesses in the Philippines.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook in 2017, Coronary heart disease takes more than 87,000 lives in the country each year. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 14 million Filipinos who suffer from hypertension. Stroke is the cause of more than 63,000 Filipino deaths. And the Philippines was recorded to have the highest number of breast cancer among 197 countries in the world, which is a staggering 589% increase in the last 30 years.

These facts are scary, but true. And while we can do a lot in terms of nutrition and lifestyle, genetics still play a huge role in our body’s makeup.

And getting sick is no walk in the park either. It’s estimated that diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation for heart attacks alone would cost at least P978,000. Getting up from a stroke would cost at least P1.8 million. And chemotherapy costs P120,000 per session. How in the world would any regular person afford this?

These skyrocketing costs of being sick is one of the reasons why people turn to health and life insurance. On top of the fact that it forces you to save a percentage of your salary for future purposes, it gives you an assurance that you’ll be able to bounce back if something unfortunate happens to you.

But the thing is—and it’s some of the biggest concerns of many Filipinos—insurance can be expensive; insurance can’t fit in the budget; insurance can be too complicated.

These are the concerns that insurance company AXA wants to address.

AXA recently launched their newest insurance product called Health Start, which covers the top major critical conditions which are cancer, heart attack, and stroke—plus some of their early stage conditions. Coverage is up to 100 years old at 20 years to pay.

Apart from major illnesses, the plan also covers early detection and early stages like angioplasty and early stage cancer treatments. You don’t have to wait for your condition to get worse; you can prevent it right away.

At first glance, it sounds like a novelty health insurance project. A million-Peso coverage for major illnesses. But there are three things that make Health Start much more interesting.

One, Health Start is so much more affordable compared to the usual health and life insurance products in the market. It’s designed to be affordable enough for millennials and starting young professionals who would like to invest more in the future, but have little wiggle room. To cover yourself with up to P1 million, rates start at as low as P1,500 per month.

Two, Health Start can cover more than you. They have a family option that starts at as low as P1,950 per month that can cover another member of your family as well. This means you can add one dependent into your plan aside from yourself—your child, parent, or even sibling—and both of you will be insured. Whoever needs to claim first gets the coverage.

Three, Health Start comes with a special built-in child coverage up to P200,000 for critical child conditions. So if you have a child—or planning to have one—she can be covered if she contracts critical conditions like dengue or Kawasaki disease. That’s right, even a child that’s still just on the way or a little bit far on the horizon will be covered.

Like all of AXA’s health plans, if you’re with Health Start, you automatically get access to AXA’s 24/7 teleconsultation hotline for when you’re just not feeling well and need some advice or information. It also covers some laboratory checks that are recommended for early detection of cancer or heart diseases.

Health Start may not be the most comprehensive health plan out there, but it’s essentially what it says it is: it is a “start.” Not everyone has thousands of pesos to spare off the bat when they start work. But the thing is: you can never schedule it when life throws you a curve ball. You just got to be prepared. It can be a good jump-off point to secure yourself and your family, but it’s still recommended to get something more comprehensive once you get more disposable income.

Right now, 82% of the adult Filipino population is not insured. Don’t be a statistic. You’ll get a cheaper plan if you start earlier, anyway. So start investing in your health and your future as soon as you can.

Check out AXA’s Health Start insurance at here.