MediCard Philippines, Inc. remains bullish on growth prospects as demand for healthcare coverage continues to climb, with the company betting on sustained product diversification and digitalization to capture an expanding market. The Philippines has long grappled with high out-of-pocket healthcare spending relative to its Southeast Asian neighbors, and private health maintenance organizations (HMOs) such as MediCard have positioned themselves to serve the segment of the population whose needs extend beyond what the government's PhilHealth universal coverage program provides.

"How many people in the Philippines have healthcare coverage today? How many people in the Philippines need healthcare coverage? If you take a cycle looking out three to five years, I've got to believe that growth in the Philippines market in healthcare is going to continue, but also in the insurance segment more broadly," MediCard Chief Executive Officer Julian Mengual told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday.

Referencing its parent company AIA Philippines Life and General Insurance Co., Inc.'s 2025 Rethink Health Study, Mr. Mengual said MediCard aims to capitalize on robust demand for healthcare solutions as out-of-pocket medical expenses among Filipinos continue to rise.

"If you are spending more than 40% on healthcare, there's a need for solutions. And we know a lot of diseases could be managed if they were prevented and caught early. We can do this stuff. That's why I'm bullish," he said.

"Now what the trick is going to be is helping people who are non-purchasers of healthcare become purchasers. And the challenge that we need to address is making sure healthcare is affordable, making sure the solutions we provide are relevant, and they bring all the parts that we can bring together to help customers meet their needs."

MediCard is preparing to launch embedded insurance products this year, potentially through multiple partnerships, Mr. Mengual disclosed.

"We've identified what we think are areas where there's an unmet need, and we've identified partners we believe would be well-suited in that space to support us, and now we're starting to put together propositions and engage," he said.

"So, the timelines will very much then depend on partners and their willingness to take these solutions and their appetite and their timing, but we already see two or three spaces where we see significant opportunity."

The company also plans to broaden its product offerings for both corporate clients and retail customers.

"I see that we will continue to build out relevant propositions for individuals that could be purchased directly or could be purchased with partners and could be embedded in partner solutions. That's one part, but I see this as the first steps in building out future propositions together for corporates that go beyond this as well."

On the technology front, MediCard will sustain its investments in insurtech to enhance service delivery and distribution, with a particular focus on emerging technologies such as agentic artificial intelligence (AI). Insurers in the Philippines have been gradually adopting digital tools to reach a broader customer base, an effort the Insurance Commission has encouraged as a means of improving accessibility and efficiency across the sector.

"I think insurtech broadly helps us do things differently. We've invested significantly in AI over this period. I think of AI as the next extension, especially agentic AI, but also, I think the digitalization and making things frictionless and the smooth experience are all areas where insurtech will play a role," Mr. Mengual said.

MediCard also anticipates sustained demand for its recently introduced healthcare plan aimed at gig economy workers and other individuals who lack regular company benefits. The gig economy segment has grown in the Philippines as more workers take on freelance, platform-based, and contract roles that typically do not come with employer-sponsored health coverage. Demand for MediCard H.E.R.O. (Health Emergency Response On-Demand) is expected to be driven by its agency channel, which has posted "significant" growth since the product's launch last month, according to Mr. Mengual.

"Actually, where we think it will start to expand quite significantly now is that we're seeing in our agency channel that this is a product that they would like to prioritize to make available to members, and the reason being the pricing is very affordable… It also gives very good care," he said.

"So we expect to see this grow over the rest of the year in our alternative channels that we have. Originally, it started as something we soft launched on our direct channels, particularly Facebook, and now it's something that's being offered through our AI agents, et cetera. So we expect to see improved trends in this."

MediCard's net income fell 75.39% year on year to P39.28 million in the first quarter, down from P159.66 million, according to data from the Insurance Commission. — Aaron Michael C. Sy