Sustaining the Workforce Amidst COVID-19: What products are out there to help you out

Sustaining the Workforce Amidst COVID-19:

What products are out there to help you out

By Venus Cruz and Murphy Santos

Almost a year since COVID-19 changed the life of every Filipino, the virus remains a threat and in increasingly different ways. When quarantine measures began to be implemented in March 2020, businesses started halting operations, and people holed up in the safety of their homes.

Upon relaxing quarantine restrictions towards the end of 2020, workplaces began bustling again, more for economic considerations, but still with the menacing threat of the virus looming over everyone’s head. As a result, it has become incumbent upon employers to ensure that the virus does not spread in their very own backyards.

Apart from basic sanitation measures such as mandating wearing of face masks and face shields, the use of hand sanitizers and foot mats, and the ever-present practice of social distancing, employers now must consider employee benefits for COVID-19-related health care expenses.

Constant exposure to strangers in coming to and from work hounds each of our employees. And it is always impossible to tell who is carrying the virus. The last thing we want is to have a sizeable portion of our workforce downed with the virus, or worse, dying from it.

This article will walk you through key COVID-19 packages aimed to help you single out what works best for your business, given the risks we all face in this time of pandemic.

What’s Out There

In providing health care benefits to your employees and members, value for money should always be of utmost concern. Hard enough as the pandemic is on each of us, affordable offerings are foremost and would be the way to get through this adversity together.

Most of the products on COVID-19 protection cover employees in the 30-45 age range. They must be considered as heads of families with stable income. They must be among those who are required to be physically present at work, so those working from home are excluded.

Premiums range from Php 3,000 to Php5,000 for benefits ranging from Php 10,000 to Php100,000. Your employee must be hospitalized, too, to come under these programs. Then there are packages with added benefits ranging from Php 5,000 to Php50,000 if your employee is a medical and health care worker.

Through payment applications and through online stores like Lazada and Shopee, we find all sorts of COVID-related protection but mostly related to life insurance, as a rider. InLife offers from PhP20,000 to 50,000 benefit upon death due to natural or accidental causes including COVID-19 and a P500 daily income if hospitalized due to accidental injury or sickness including COVID-19 for at least 4 days with payout beginning on the 4^th day of hospitalization up to 365 days payout (max of Php182,500 but you don’t get hospitalized for 365 days if it’s COVID; survivors can be hospitalized at a maximum of 60-80 days, tops, which is something like Php30,000 to Php40,000 max), open to those aged 18 to 64, between Php1,000 to Php1,200 for one year, with option to pay via credit or debit card or via Lazada e-wallet.

Shopee has MYEG insurance reselling a Malayan insurance COVID19 Hospitalization Insurance Plan for Seniors for one year at Php855 with Php750 daily hospital income at a maximum of 14 days (maximum total payout of Php10,500) with loss of life cash assistance of Php100,000.

GCash offers COVID19 and Dengue protection, in partnership with Singlife Philippines, backed by Singapore Life Private Ltd., Aboitiz Equity Ventures, and Di-Firm (a Singaporean investment firm) for up to Php421,500 total coverage limited to an additional 10,000 customers as of January 27^th (various search pages will show first 5,000 only will benefit, another page says first 15,000, and most recently, this additional 10,000 customers) for GCash users aged 18 to 65 years. GCash users just need to send an SMS code, and they get sent an SMS confirmation of enrollment after one to two days, with automatic deduction from one’s GCash account. When we looked into the package though, it was not clear for normal non-insurance savvy persons like us, how they concluded that the package offered Php421,500 coverage with just the following searchable details:

What is directly COVID-related is the test allowance at Php500 to Php1,500 which is dependent on the type of plan you choose (bronze, silver, or gold package as shown above); and the confinement allowance from Php40,000 up to Php120,000 (max of 4 confinements that total to these amounts); and the medical cost reimbursement related to diagnosis of or confinement due to “more severe cases” of Dengue fever and COVID19 ranging from Php100,000 to Php300,000.  The cost for this GCash offering ranges from Php300 to Php1,750 per year. What is not clearly cited in online references is whether the cash for confinement and medical reimbursement can be used for other purposes other than confinement or medical reimbursement expenses. 

While all three (InLife, Malayan-MYEG, and GCash) involve ease of submitting documentation and releases the enrollee from the hassle of traditional documentary processes and submissions, no ready information was available online on speed of claims processing for all three products which would be an important determining factor for each product’s effectivity.

These are the most accessible we have so far come across. However, we have found two products, generated by a team of product developers in partnership with a broking firm with a clear understanding of how to help in this time of pandemic at mid-range prices with high-end benefits. These two products, if combined, seem to be most beneficial compared to all three just discussed. Considering that most of those affected by COVID19 are the income earners who have to go out to ensure access to food, that necessities are addressed, and to continue to make a living, the products we found make sense as one provides lumpsum financial assistance which a person insured could use for whatever purpose he or she deems fit: medical expenses, household expenses or other, as you are confined in the hospital; and another product that has a reasonable death benefit due to COVID19.

Our Top Choices

ARUGA: The Philinsure COVID Hospitalization Assistance Program

On its 20^th anniversary, PhilPacific Insurance Brokers & Managers, Inc. (Philinsure) partnered with the National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines and EtiQa Philippines (a leading ASEAN insuring company, majority-owned by Etiqa International Holdings Malaysia, an investment holding company of Malaysia Baning Berhad or Maybank, with headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), and created Aruga: The COVID Hospitalization Assistance Program.  

Aruga, the Filipino word for care, sums up the product’s key benefits which helps those severely affected by COVID-19 and require hospitalization. Aruga provides a significant amount of financial assistance if an employee is hospitalized, even in the intensive care unit, with a minimum confinement requirement of four (4) days. For peace of mind and continuing care, not only for the confined enrollee-employee, but for the family he or she provides for, Aruga grants a considerable lumpsum benefit to be used for any purpose the enrollee-employee deems fit, not limited to medical reimbursement, or confinement expenses. This benefit is totally separate from any HMO/Medical Insurance benefit and can be on top of any existing medical benfit available. He or she receives cash for whatever purpose it may serve.

1. Features, Benefits and Premiums

When your employee is hospitalized for a minimum of four days due to the virus, choices for a lump sum benefit is provided at PhP50,000 hospitalization financial assistance or Php250,000 Intensive Care Financial Assistance or both. The lump sum benefit increases to PhP250,000 if your employee is confined in the intensive care unit or attached to a mechanical ventilator. Positive confirmation of the infection must also be in accordance with DOH guidelines. The coverage period is 12 months.  

From as low as P750 premium per head per year to as high as P870 if Main Office is Located in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna, enrollees can get a benefit of Php 50,000 for standard hospitalization and Php 250,000 when in intensive care. This premium is valid until September 30, 2021. If the main office is located in all other areas, you can avail the program for as low as P375 to P435 premium per head per year. Open group options will work well for organizations or cooperatives that do not have strict employer-employee structures. The minimum enrollment is 25 persons for employee-employer groups and/or open groups, with a 10% discount for enrollees totaling 10,001 – 20,000 and a 25% discount for those with more than 20,000 enrollees.  They also have the privilege to enroll their eligible dependents. 

The following are considered as special work categories and will be required an additional 20% for premium:

1. Health workers
2. Non-health workers in hospitals
3. Bank employees
4. Grocery, supermarket, and retail shop employees
5. Traffic management personnel
6. Delivery service
7. Public transportation

Your business or organization falls under this provision if more than 50% of the members in the group belongs to any of the above work categories.

2. Eligibility

To qualify for this program, your employees must be 18 to 64 years old with or without prior confirmation of COVID-19.

Malayan’s COVID19 Cash Assistance Benefit Program

Recently launched, and also supported by Philinsure to complement its current COVID19 response efforts, Malayan Insurance has come up with “The COVID19 Cash Assistance Benefit Program.” This provides additional hospital income and a substantial death benefit for the victims of COVID19.

1. Features, Benefits and Premiums

When your employee is hospitalized, hospital income benefit is given from Php750 to Php1,250 per day, at a maximum of 14 days availment, if you enroll for a year, depending on which plan you prefer. There is also a friendly option of 6-months enrollment to make the package more accessible to smaller wage earners, paying out Php500 to Php750 per day (capped at 14 days as well).

Loss of life cash assistance due to COVID 19 ranges from Php100,000 to Php300,000.

All this for as low as Php130 to Php300 per head per year for the 6-month plans, and as low as Php600 to Php2,250 premium per head per year for annual plans. 

The program also offers other non-COVID benefits as follows:

• Loss of life cash assistance for Dengue and Chikungunya from Php12,500  for 6-month enrollments, and Php50,000 up to Php150,000 for annual enrollments
• Accidental death benefit from Php12,500 to Php25,000 for 6-month enrollments, and Php100,000 to Php300,000 for annual enrollments
• Medical reimbursement for accidental injuries only from Php12,500 up to 37,500 depending on you preferred plan

2. Eligibility

To qualify for this program, your employees could be up to 75 years old. But those aged 65 to 75 years have higher premium rates that apply as shown in the table above. Actually, the program can be extended to family members of your employees on an individual basis, especially aging parents with no protection or coverage, or other relatives and friends, and also to other uninsured members of the household such as househelp. There is no minimum requirement for enrollment for the Malayan COVID19 Cash Assistance Benefit Program. However, unlike Aruga, this program is unable to accommodate medical frontliners.   

For both offerings, enrollment and documentation processes are assisted, made easy and simple, with a quick turn-around of, at most, 7 calendar days for claims processing on both the financial assistance or hospital income components, and death benefit claim*. Having a managed service available to your company to assist you with employee benefits programs reduces the pressure on your HR personnel in monitoring, updating, and servicing employees in this respect.

Combining Aruga and the Cash Assistance Benefit Program

If you decide to take our suggestion to combine Aruga and Malayan’s Cash Assistance Benefit Program, you can choose to spend Php750 a year per employee for Aruga to secure both Hospitalization and Intensive Care Financial Assistance totaling PhP300,000 cash assistance; and combine this with Plan A of Malayan’s program, which will bring you added hospital income of Php10,500 max (Php750 per day at 14 days max) and loss of life cash assistance of PhP100,000 at Php600 per person per year (since most employees are 64 years and under). You would end up spending only PhP1,250.00 per employee, still much lower than the other offerings cited in this article, but with protection for your employees and their loved ones whether an employee survives COVID19 or not, with other benefits to boot (loss of life due to dengue, chikungunya; medical reimbursement for accidental injuries; and accidental death benefit).  

If you have a much higher budget for your employees, you can go all out and combine Aruga with Plan C under the Malayan program, and still end up only spending Php2,250 in total per employee. Both options are a drop in the bucket compared to absorbing the cost of financial assistance to employees that may be affected by COVID19 under your watch.

* Documentation for death benefit claims so long as complete upon submission will meet this turn-around time.

Companies must invest and reasonably spend on prevention and available insurance that can help them anticipate and manage the risks and costs that COVID19 brings to the table to continue operating cost-efficiently under these unpredictable times.

For more information on Aruga and the Cash Assistance Benefit program, please email [email protected] or visit www.bnfts.ph

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edit: premiums have been edited due to the recent rise in infection rates

About the Writers

Venus is a Gen-Xer that has been active in gender & development advocacy, women’s legal education, family planning, urban poor development, research for market information services, and customer success.  A Bachelor of Laws graduate of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, her publications include “Fundamentals of Lawmaking and the Legislative Process,” and other such works for the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (August 2000), other milestone publications the past decade with the Women’s Legal Education, Advocacy and Defense Foundation, the Alternative Law Groups, Inc., but, has also churned out some how-to and self-help articles for Celebrity Mom under the One Mega Group, Inc., the past decade.

Murphy is a freelance investigative writer and projects evaluator who has over two decades of experience in special projects on beauty and health products and events, power generation investments, tourism and environmental sustainability, organizational wellness, and humanitarian projects.