Have you considered getting supplemental health insurance for you and your family? If it's not something you've already thought about, you might want to consider it.
Provincial health insurance only covers some of the costs associated with healthcare. If you find yourself in a situation where you or a family member has to stay in the hospital for an extended length of time, or if you need a pricey prescription drug, it could be hard to cover the high costs.
As you're doing your research, the first company that you should check out is Manulife Healthcare. This insurance company offers a wide range of products so you can make sure that you have an affordable way to meet them.
Read on to learn more about Manulife and how to find the right products for you.
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What Is Manulife Healthcare?
So just what is Manulife? How does it work with your provincial healthcare?
Manulife is an international private health insurance company. They offer a variety of plans at various price points so that families of all incomes can find something that suits their needs.
Their insurance acts as a supplement to the insurance coverage you already receive through the government. They understand the way that coverage and regulation changes by province, so you don't have to worry about if it will be right for where you live.
Let's take a look at some of the products they offer.
Health & Dental Insurance
This is one of the more popular options. When they're looking for supplemental health insurance, most people want to know that they're going to be covered if they need any major dental work or have a chronic illness.
Manulife insurance for health and dental will reduce the amount of money that you pay out of pocket for health-related expenses. That's one less thing that you'll have to stress about when you're trying to get the care you need.
Disability Insurance
Even if you have the best health insurance around, sometimes an injury knocks you out of commission for months or even years. If you're not able to work because of an injury or illness, disability insurance can help to make sure you're still able to pay your bills.
If you're able to work, but your activities are limited, you can get partial benefits.
This can offer a ton of peace of mind.
Critical Illness Insurance
No one wants to hear that they've been diagnosed with a critical illness. Not only is it a devastating personal blow, but the stress can get even worse once the reality of the medical costs sinks in.
Manulife's critical illness insurance means that you won't have to worry about your finances after receiving a diagnosis. Instead, you can focus on your recovery and your insurance will kick in after a short waiting period.
Combination Insurance
What if you're not sure which kind of insurance you need, or if you want some of the benefits from multiple plans? Combination insurance is probably going to be your choice.
You can probably guess what it offers from the name -- it's a combination of life, disability, and critical illness insurance. Instead of paying a lot of money for three different policies, you can get great coverage with one affordable policy.
Types Of Plans
Alright, so you know what kind of health insurance is available to you with Manulife. But once you know what you want, how do you choose a type of plan?
Manulife usually offers three types of plans: core, enhanced, and standalone. This lets you choose only the amount of coverage that you think you need so that you're not paying for something you won't use.
Let's take a look at their Flexcare health and dental insurance coverage as an example of the types of plans you can choose from.
Core Plans
The core plan is the most basic coverage. This is for people who want to cover the gaps left by their provincial coverage, but don't necessarily need a lot of extra services to be covered.
There are three different core plans to choose from within Flexcare:
- DrugPlus
- DentalPlus
- ComboPlus
DrugPlus will cover the additional cost of prescription drugs and vision care, DentalPlus offers coverage for dental and vision care, while ComboPlus includes both.
These plans are the easiest to get since you don't have to fill out a medical questionnaire to qualify.
Enhanced Plans
The enhanced plans are basically the core plans with higher coverage. Whether you know you're going to have higher health care costs or if you'd rather be safe than sorry, you might want to check out the enhanced plans.
These typically give you higher spending limits and allow you to add on additional coverage. For example, the company might cover twice as much money for prescription drug costs, while also allowing you to add coverage like travel insurance or accidental death.
Standalone Plans
What if you already have insurance through your employer and don't need as much coverage?
There are lots of people who have both provincial health insurance and employer insurance and still have some gaps in their coverage. If that's the case for you, you can choose a standalone plan for a lower cost.
Manulife offers standalone coverage for hospital costs and catastrophic events so that you're taken care of in case of an emergency. There are also entry-level plans that are great for young people who are just starting out at a new workplace.
Know Your Needs
Even if you know the types of plans that are offered, it can be a little difficult to choose which one you're going to need. To make sure you find the right Manulife Healthcare products for you, the most important thing is to understand your needs.
What's most important to you? What needs to be covered? Are you planning a move or starting a family?
All of these are important questions to ask yourself as you make the choice about insurance coverage. Let's take a look at some of the most common needs people have when it comes to medical insurance.
Families
As your family grows, your health insurance coverage should grow, too. Manulife knows that families need extra support without the burden of a huge additional cost.
If you have a Core or Enhanced plan, you can add as many of your family members as you need. If your family includes more than three children, you can even get a discount on your premium.
There's no need to worry about having to change your insurance coverage just because the baby makes three.
Maternity Care
Maternity care isn't automatically covered, but you can easily add it to your existing plan without too much hassle.
With a Flexcare core plan, it's as simple as applying for the hospital add-on. Expecting mothers who are fewer than twenty weeks pregnant should apply for this additional coverage. Your maternity costs will be fully covered as long as you meet the qualifications.
You'll also be able to stay for two days in the hospital at no additional cost to you. That way, the mom can focus on bonding with her new baby instead of going home.
Plus, your new child will be automatically covered from birth.
Senior Privileges
Senior citizens can also get additional benefits within a Flexcare plan. Since Manulife understands the different health needs that might arise at a certain age, plan members who are 65 and older automatically get increased coverage for prescription drugs.
Adjusted Coverage
Do you have a job that requires you to move from province to province fairly often? It can be a struggle to make sure that your health insurance still meets all of your needs in your new home. Depending on the company you have, you might not even be covered in a new place.
With a Flexcare plan, Manulife will automatically adjust your coverage based on what's covered by the government health insurance in each province. You'll get proportionate coverage no matter where you go.
Prescription Drugs
If you know that you're going to be facing some high costs when it comes to prescription drugs, you might want to choose the FollowMe premiere plan.
FollowMe is another version of Manulife's health and dental insurance coverage, but this includes additional coverage for prescription drugs. If you think you're going to spend more than $1000 on prescription drug coverage, this is definitely a plan you should consider. (Quebec residents should note that their coverage is limited to costs that aren't covered by RAMQ.)
The biggest benefit of FollowMe is that the insurance will "follow you" from job to job so that you don't have to worry about being uncovered in between jobs.
Find The Plan That's Right For You
There are a lot of options available when it comes to Manulife healthcare. With this guide, you should be one step closer to finding the plan that's right for you. Give yourself the peace of mind that comes with having truly complete health insurance coverage.
Ready to get started? Let us help you find the right plan at the lowest cost. Get your free quote today.
