Welcoming a new baby into your family is an exciting chapter in your life. You’ll be choosing a nursery room color, prepare toys, buy new clothes, get the necessary baby gears and more. Of course, you’ll start thinking about the road ahead with your little one as part of your daily life. It is part of parents being parents. You want nothing but only the best for your children. But aside from all the things that you opt to get, is a health plan one of them? Well, it’s good if you already have one. As the Philippines have the highest medical inflation rate in Asia, being health insured is a big help. However, is your anticipated baby covered, too?
Right now, the OB or midwife might be monitoring the health of your unborn baby. But as soon as your baby goes out of your womb and enters into this world, that’s a different story.
Keeping your baby healthy requires time and effort. You’ll schedule check-ups with your trusted doctor, buy milk, get necessary vitamins, and ask for vaccine shots. Indeed, you’ll need a lot of stuff for your baby. That’s when managing finances highly matter. You need to have funds to ensure that your child would maintain good health.
According to Save the Children Philippines CEO Albert Muyot, at least 95 children below 5 years old die every day due to preventable diseases caused by undernutrition. Meanwhile, there are over 3.6 million stunted children in the country, while 800,000 are malnourished. Not only that, the term “stunted” is not a racial and genetic trait but a result of the lingering problem of chronic malnutrition among millions of children in the Philippines. If only parents have availed an affordable health plan which will lead them to a healthier lifestyle, these dilemmas can be prevented. This is because having a health plan for a baby means the child will be checked by the doctor regularly, prescribed vitamins and given vaccines, all for a low price!
Unfortunately, most parents still rely on their hard-earned money instead of having a health plan prepared. On the report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), most health expenditures still come from household out-of-pocket payment. This involves parents spending straight from their cash reserves when their child gets sick or injured. However, if a child is insured, parents will be protected from the unexpected and high medical costs. Plus, the child will get free preventive care like vaccines, screenings, and check-ups (which are crucial for the overall health of the baby).
You see, getting a health plan for your baby is very important. It doesn’t just maintain the good health of your child but also protect your finances. If you consider getting one, start researching about health insurance companies in the Philippines now. Remember, as parents, you know that your child only deserves the best.
