Workers face more challenges in a world of powerful disasters like frequent earthquakes and high-category storms, and uncertainty in business and political spheres. Despite rising healthcare costs, helping your workforce stay competitive and healthy is doable.

We explore strategies for maintaining a thriving workforce during these challenging times.

Valuing Your Team

The first and most important step is to recognize the value of taking care of your workforce. While these feel like added expenses, healthcare and other wellbeing benefits for your employees produce results. Data from Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) showed increases in staff wellness, morale, happiness, and retention. The US Chamber of Commerce placed a monetary value on this investment: $1.47 in financial benefits for every dollar spent on employer-sponsored insurance or ESI.

Reducing the Costs

While high healthcare costs are the current reality, employers are not helpless. The beauty in healthcare being a market is that options exist for getting the products and services you need for a healthy, thriving workforce without it becoming expensive.

For one, many illnesses accounting for low employee productivity or high incidences of leaves are often minor illnesses, like seasonal flus, fatigue, muscle pain, and mental health issues. A mix of a strong well-being infrastructure, responsive medical providers, and cheaper but effective medications like generics can reduce their incidences or limit the downtime of your people, reducing overall costs for your teams and your business.

Affordable Medicines

We mentioned generics above, and we can’t state enough how looking for cheaper medication alternatives, especially for common ailments, can help keep your people productive while helping you (and them) in dealing with rising healthcare costs. Your business can also find a supplier who offers medicines at lower prices when bought in bulk.

Aside from generics and cheaper brands, some companies offer special deals that can reduce costs. Philippine drug company Unilab, for instance, offers a discount card that can give big savings for a certain number of purchases of their medicines. 

Increased Inclusivity

One side of this is your business giving importance to the health needs of a diverse workforce. Members of the LGBTQ+ community or indigenous peoples face challenges on top of everyday ones. Attending to these needs, like providing safe spaces, prayer rooms for non-Christians, gender-inclusive bathrooms, and even a small private space for nursing mothers, can go a long way to reducing the mental health load on members of these communities.

Increased inclusivity in healthcare can also mean expanding coverage. Family is at the core of Filipino culture. If your company insurance plan provides coverage for family members like elder parents or children, this helps relieve much of the anxiety your staff can have when it comes to meeting the needs of their family members. It also helps greatly in employer retention.

Prevention is Better Than Cure

The most affordable way to deal with rising healthcare costs is to keep your workforce healthy. Preventive programs can take the form of encouraging regular checkups outside of the annual examinations, and this is best done by having healthcare plans that provide your employees with easy and affordable access to medical consultation services.

Wellness programs can extend to mental health by providing your staff with accessible consultation during office hours. Many businesses now offer such counseling services, which can help reduce work-related stress and increase productivity.

Ensuring a Thriving Workforce

Keeping your workforce in top shape is challenging in the face of many issues, but it is doable and does not have to strain your budget. All this requires creativity, a focus on caring for your people, and an understanding of cost-saving options that maintain quality.

Our Reliable Insurance brokers stand ready to help you navigate these tough waters by providing you with all the information you need on the healthcare plans that can deal with the rising healthcare costs, whether through cost-effective coverage bundles or by looking for providers that give you value for your money. Call us anytime for a consultation.

Contact Information for Inquiries and Support

If you have any questions or need assistance with your insurance, feel free to reach out to us:

• Call: +63 2 8631 9285 to 86
• Mobile: +63 917 138 5120
• Email: info@reliable-insurance.ph
• Messenger: m.me/reliable.insurancebrokersph

Sources:

• Aon (2024, October 8), 4 Ways to Foster a Thriving Workforce Amid Rising Health Costs.
• McKinsey and Company (2025, November 18), Gathering storm 2.0: Succeeding in healthcare despite the turbulence.
• Healthcare Today (2025, April 16), A productive and healthy workforce.
• US Chamber of Commerce, (2023, October 26), Despite Rising Medical Inflation, Employers Continue to Shield Workers from Costs.