Philippines calls for more gender-specific insurance and HMO plans

The commission also encourages gender-sensitive plans and programmes.

The Philippines’ Insurance Commission (IC) urged the public to consider gender-specific insurance and health maintenance organisation (HMO) products that address health risks such as maternal care, reproductive health services, critical illness coverage, and gender-specific medical treatments.

The IC also called on insurers and HMOs under its supervision to develop and offer products that respond to gender-specific needs, it said in a press release last 27 March.

It encouraged these industries to implement gender-sensitive plans and programmes, and related initiatives.

The Advisory emphasised the need to gather and analyze sex-disaggregated data to better understand which insurance and HMO products suit the health and financial needs of both women and men throughout different life stages.