Reyes

Anakalusugan seeks to widen Philhealth’s coverage

October 13, 2022 Ryan Ponce Pacpaco 441 views

A LAWMAKER has pushed for wider coverage of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) health coverage as he held a free medical mission in Bulacan to address the medical concerns of the most vulnerable sector.

Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Florence Reyes said the three-day medical mission he initiated at Barangay Lalakhan and Barangay San Gabriel in Sta. Maria and Barangay Tigbe in Norzagaray, Bulacan, from October 5 to 7, served a total of 314 patients.

Reyes said medical services such as the electrocardiogram (ECG), lipid profiling, and general consultation were offered for free, as well as vitamins and medicines.

“The number of patients willing to avail of these free services goes to show that PhilHealth needs to widen its coverage and most importantly, improve its case rate, which hasn’t been updated for the past 20 years,” Reyes said.

As of 2022, Reyes said the national health insurer registered 90% of Filipinos as members.

“With the rosy picture promised by Universal Healthcare, 45 percent of costs to seek medical attention is crippling for the low-wage-earning families, especially now. We call on our colleagues in Congress to investigate this problem. We need to fix this fiscal injustice in the health sector,” said Reyes.

Reyes lamented as PhilHealth bared in a committee hearing that out-of-pocket expenditures ranging from 34 to 44.7% are still shouldered by Filipinos.

In response, Reyes visited barangays in the province of Bulacan to deliver free medical check-ups and medicines.

“With these medical initiatives, we are doing what we possibly can to alleviate the suffering of our countrymen and somehow apply a temporary balm to the sad plight of our health care delivery system,” Reyes stated.

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