IntelliCare: Going beyond borders

Mario Solis, president of IntelliCare, one of the country’s top Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), has proclaimed that if it wants to grasp the further reaches of the industry and correct any misconceptions the public may have developed for it, an HMO should be able to improve on its services – innovation is a must.

Not that it has not delivered on its promises. IntelliCare, in fact, is proving to be a step ahead of its peers. For innovate is what it has done. Having successfully reached the top after being in existence a mere 10 years, IntelliCare is looking at more possibilities to improve the HMO industry.

Pamilya Care

Pamilya Care is a health plan that caters to families of overseas Filipino workers. For years, the opportunity to offer managed health care to OFW’s families has been overlooked. One reason might be the thinking that since they are abroad after all to earn more money than they would here, they can easily afford any unplanned medical expenses.

IntelliCare deemed it best to develop this product for OFWs and their families simply because having an HMO will prove to be the better and safer way to go.

With a Pamilya Care health plan, their loved ones in the Philippines will have immediate access to quality medical services eliminating hassles or delays that may otherwise arise. As with health plans, expenses are better managed vs. medical emergencies that may catch one financially offguard.

The plan is initially available to families of OFWs in Australia. IntelliCare is tied-up with the World Insurance Network (WIN), a worldwide distributor of health and insurance products, as their marketing arm in Australia.

Assist America

IntelliCare has also gone global. Like all other HMOs, IntelliCare’s coverage used to be limited by geography. However, in September 2004, to support the large number of IntelliCare’s clients and potential clients who travel regularly, the company began providing global emergency medical services via a partnership with Assist America.

The Assist America program protects clients who travel both locally and internationally with a wide range of premium emergency services.

So if you’re an IntelliCare cardholder and is a subscriber to the Assist America program, you can take comfort in knowing that even when you travel out of the country, you have access to world-class emergency assistance service.

If you have a medical emergency, you can make one simple phone call to Assist America’s Operations Centers, anytime, 24/7. Their Operations Centers are staffed with highly trained multi-lingual and professional medical personnel.

Administrative services program

IntelliCare is also flexible. On top of these innovations and the HMO Program, IntelliCare also offers other significant products such as the Third Party Administration (TPA) Program.

This arrangement is perfect for companies that only have minimal budget for a health care program or those whose utilization are not much.

The TPA Program relieves clients some financial pressure. For instead of paying a fixed periodic premium, clients agree to deposit on behalf of its enrolled members, a fixed amount of money called a health fund that will be administered and exclusively used by IntelliCare for payment of healthcare services and benefits that have been availed of principally through IntelliCare’s network of affiliated healthcare providers.

The health fund is then replenished regularly by the client to ensure that in no case shall the fund be less than the agreed amount (usually 50 percent of the initial fund). Clients only pay for what is utilized. Replenishment of fund has no frequency in billing as long as it has not reached 50 percent of the initial fund. In exchange for administrative services rendered, IntelliCare charges against the health fund its administrative fees, access fees to the network and other medical collectibles on services/benefits which are not covered by or in excess of the pre-agreed limits.

For more information about IntelliCare and their products, you can call their 24-hour customer service number (02) 894-3386 or visit their website at www.intellicare.com.ph.