Actor-entrepreneur invests in wellbeing of employees

Maxicare Healthcare Corp. encourages micro, small and medium enterprises to protect and safeguard the health of their employees and families.

The company said its SME healthcare plans are designed with entrepreneurs and their employees’ health in mind. 

Actor and entrepreneur Marvin Agustin, the newest brand ambassador of Maxicare, said he chose to provide healthcare plans to all his employees, even when his businesses were not as profitable as they used to be.

“It [pandemic] was a huge challenge, a major disruption in food scene,” said Agustin, who runs several restaurants.  “We had to follow the safety protocols and at the same time, the threat of COVID is serious. So we have to pay attention to the safety of everyone. We won’t be able to operate if people, your employees and your staff would get sick, and it is also not safe for the customers.”

The food entrepreneur admitted that at first, he was not keen on getting healthcare plans for his employees. 

“I’ll be honest, before this partnership with Maxicare, even for myself I was afraid of extra expenses. But you know, hearing and learning about Maxicare’s SME plans, they just made it convenient and affordable and you would not think twice to get the plans.  They made it within reach for yourself, for your company and for your employees. You don’t need to worry about medical expenses anymore,” he said.

Agustin said that like other entrepreneurs, he thought there wasn’t a healthcare plan suited for his business. 

“Given that there’s COVID, there’s this threat of us getting sick anytime. If there are challenges like this, many people are affected.  There are no sales, yet you have to pay rent, supplies and the salary of your employees.  But, if you get sick and you don’t have Maxicare, you would have bigger expenses and bigger problem,” he said.

“I’m happy that Maxicare reached out to me, and I have learned more. Now, I am more ready to do my business, to succeed with my team, and my team and my staff would also have peace of mind that if ever something happens to them, there’s Maxicare that would help them,” said Agustin.

Maxicare now has 1.6 million members with over 33 years presence in the Philippines. It is accepted by over 1,000 hospitals and clinics around the country.

Maxicare assistant vice president for consumer marketing Milky Gallegos dismissed the preconceived notion that Maxicare is expensive.

“Recently, we conducted a study among hundreds of employees across the country, and it turns out that SMEs, I mean those who don’t invest in HMO, spend an average of about P21,600 per employee per year on healthcare expenses. So this is on top of payroll, and expenses such as cash advance, whenever an employee or an employee’s family member gets sick. When compared to Maxicare’s array of healthcare plans, SMEs will get quality healthcare with an affordable premium,” Gallegos said.

“Maxicare SME healthcare plans are a lot less than P21,000. In fact, depending on the size of your business, we have plans that start as low as P4,600 to P6,000 per employee per year. So this big difference in the amount of spending is something that a lot of SMEs are not aware of. And the key point that I want to make and to highlight is that investing in Maxicare SME healthcare plans not only gives your employees access to quality healthcare, but also protects your business from unplanned expenses. It really is an investment for the employees and the business itself,” she said. 

Maxicare assistant vice president for consumer sales Jen Limbaring said healthcare plans also cover pandemic-related diseases. There are many product options to choose from, depending on the financial capabilities of each SME, she said.

Micro businesses can get a plan for as low as P4,651 per employee per year. For small businesses, it start from P6,260 for those with 10 to 19 employees or P5,301 for those with 20 to 99 employees.      

The premiums per employee are considerably lower compared to the out-of-pocket expenses SME owners spend to cover the healthcare needs of their employees.