DEPUTY Speaker Lorenzo ‘Erin’ R. Tañada III hailed the President’s signing into law of his authored bill (HB 6048) on amendments to the Philhealth Charter, saying “it will depoliticize once and for all the provision of health insurance to citizens.”
Last Thursday, June 19, President Aquino signed into law the bill amending the charter of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, which, among others, provides for the compulsory enrollment of absolutely every Filipino in PhilHealth, the government’s social health insurance program.
“Under the new law, politicians will no longer have a say in which individuals to enroll in PhilHealth,” Tañada explained. “Now everyone is enrolled, so the promise of PhilHealth coverage should no longer be a determining factor in their choice of who to vote or not vote for.”
“The system before was extremely politicized,” Tanada explained. “Politicians used PhilHealth coverage as a kind of bargaining chip with their constituents: they cover their supporters and exclude those who support their rivals. The whole question of having health insurance was a function of whether the candidate one voted for eventually won. That was the reason why we had PhilHealth cards with politician’s faces on it, and it became a standard campaign promise. That’s all been eliminated now with the new law.”
Section 18 of the Republic Act 10606, which amends Section 28 of RA 7875, provides that the premiums of all those who qualify as indigents under the Means Test of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) shall be paid by the National Government, while the premiums of those who are unable to pay but do not so qualify with the DSWD, will be provided for by their respective local government units.
“This is a small effort on my part to leave government service a little better than when I found it,” the three-term Congressman from Quezon, whose terms ends in June 30, said. “I used to worry what will happen to my sponsored PhilHealth beneficiaries after I leave office—because the standard practice was for the successor to stop paying for them and put in a new list of beneficiaries consisting of their own supporters. That is a moot consideration now, since it will not matter who is in office, everyone will be covered anyway.”
Republic Act 10606 amends Republic Act 7875, the charter of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC). It expands the minimum services that the PHIC is mandated to provide, which includes out-patient services. Further, it makes several amendments with respect to the financial management of the Corporation, particularly, lowering its administrative costs and the treatment of its reserve funds.
It provides that the annual premiums of women who are about to give birth shall be borne by the national and local government, as well as sponsors, so that they need not worry about being deprived of medical service during that critical period. The premium contributions of orphans, abandoned and abused minors, out-of-school youths, street children, PWDs, senior citizens and battered women under the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), or any of its accredited institutions run by non-profit organizations shall be paid by the DSWD.
Significantly, the law also mandates that the lack of a Philhealth identification card will not be a reason to deny medical service to anyone.
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