Medicard Humble Beginnings: "A Vision that Started with P1.00 a Day"

Dr. Nicanor D. Montoya believed that if a person could just put away this small sum of the money daily, he could already afford hospitalization. From this basic philosophy, Medicard (Philippines) Inc. was born. Its mission was simply to provide quality comprehensive healthcare services to many Filipinos, at a cost they could afford.

Necessity as the Mother of Innovation

Dr. Montoya’s Vision for medicard was born out of a desperate need.

The country was reeling from two decades of dictatorship rule. Health costs were rising, but incomes were falling. Not only were working-class people unable to pay for much-needed quality healthcare, even middle-income families were grapping for available funds they can use in case of medical emergencies.

Carrying out his civic duty, Dr. Montoya gathered a group of eminent physicians from the most distinguished medical centers in the country and convinced them to pool their resources together to set up the country’s first health maintenance organization (HMO) in 1987. An HMO provides a comprehensive healthcare program for its members, which includes emergency care, hospital confinement, preventive healthcare, dental care and out-patient consultation services.

Humble Beginnings

Medicard started occupying a tiny space on the 9^th floor Sagittarius Building on H.V dela Costa Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City in 1988. Recruitment of members was slow at first until it was realized that more could be reached more quickly by enlisting companies who were large employers. This scheme became successful and was expanded to company executives and middle managers, as well as the rank and file.

By 1990, the company opened its doors to clients in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and Davao City.

Membership grew rapidly, as the market started to discover the advantage of having an HMO founded and run by those mainly coming from the medical profession. This uniqueness gave MediCard a lot of headways that remain unmatched in the local medical insurance industry.

Quality and Affordability

Since its inception, MediCard has always been guided by a service-oriented culture. This differentiates it from the vast competition, alongside providing innovative schemes that cut down the cost of health maintenance without compromising quality.

The company’s 500,000 members from more than 1,700 companies can attest to the quality of service that a Medicard membership extends.

Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Medicard has been providing quality healthcare services to all its members for the past 25 years-and counting.