Most Visayans not ready for medical emergencies

Are you financially ready for medical emergencies?

A Social Weather Station (SWS) survey said 6 out of 10 people in the Visayas are not.

The survey, commissioned by Sun Life Financial Philippines in April last year, had 300 respondents from the Visayas. A total of 1,200 household decision-makers were interviewed in urban centers nationwide for the  survey.

The results were highlighted yesterday by Sun Life as part of a campaign to  launch June as Financial Independence month.

Based on a separate study by market research company Ipsos, an acute heart attack could entail P1 million to P1.8 million while a stroke would require P1.8 million to P2.7 million.

Treatment for lung cancer would need P1.8 million to P2.6 million, said  Sun Life chief marketing officer Mylene Lopa.

Five out of 10 Filipinos said it would be difficult for them to shell out P50,000 for emergency expenses like illness. Seven out of 10 cannot afford to pay P100,000 to P500,000 while almost all, or 9 out of 10, said they can’t produce over P500,000 for emergency expenses.

Lopa said the challenge is to make  people understand that health and wealth go together, and that financial planning is vital.

“The more financially ready you are to finance grave illness, the better your wealth standing is,” she said.

She said most Filipinos still rely heavily on  either their spouse’s income, business revenues or their own employment income to finance their health needs.

“These sources (of funds) make one feel more enslaved to the spouses, business or their employment income,” said Sun Life Asset Management Company, Inc. (SLAMCI) president Valerie Pama.

The SWS survey showed that 4 out of 10 Filipinos fund their health needs from  their spouse’s income while 35 percent rely on business and 17 percent rely on their own employment.

Only 8 percent rely on a health maintenance organization (HMO) plan while 22 percent are banking on PhilHealth and 11 percent depend on bank savings. A mere 2 percent rely on their own insurance policies.

Other sources of funds for healthcare are financial support from relatives (25 percent), support from children (24 percent), loans from relatives (14 percent) and loans from money lenders (10 percent).

The good news is that most are willing to learn and take a step towards financial freedom.

The SWS survey showed that 8 out of 10 Visayans believe in long-term financial planning.

“It’s higher in Mindanao with 83 percent, Luzon with 75 percent  and NCR with 71 percent. This means that they are open to invest for their future including future health needs,” Lopa said.

She said they are seeing increased interest to invest especially from the youth. The average age of their investors in SLAMCI is below 30 years old.

Lopa, however, said the rate of investments on health insurance is still very minimal. They hope to grow this through more education campaigns.

Sun Life’s campaign for Financial Independence Month #FIT2LiveFree campaign urges Filipinos to prioritize financial preparedness for their health needs.

Only 18 percent of the population have insurance coverage. A smaller number or two to three percent of the total population of 100 million Filipinos have individual or personal   insurance policies.

“Most people still put their money in the banks. In fact, about P6 trillion are in  banks and only P1 trillion are placed in investments,” she said.