Lacson to prioritize funding for UHCA
THE Universal Health Care Act (UHCA) is still underfunded by about P84 billion— a gap that must be addressed by the next administration to stop hospitals from leaving the state health insurance system for good and prevent the public from suffering even more amid the coronavirus pandemic, Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said.
Lacson raised this issue in a recent press conference in Lingayen, Pangasinan, as he noted that more private hospitals were cutting ties with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) over unpaid hospitalization claims that reached about P20 billion as of November.
The three-term senator noted the full implementation of the UHCA was crucial for the country to address the pandemic, which is the priority of the Partido Reporma chief once he is elected President following the 2022 national elections.
“Kami sa aming isang programa, siyempre, uunahin ‘yung pandemya pa rin. Meron tayong Universal Health Care Act na naipasa 2018… Hanggang ngayon hindi pa fully funded kahit kaya naman. Ang full implementation nito nasa mga P257-billion pero ang nilagak na pondo para sa 2022, P173-billion lang,” Lacson told the Pangasinan media.
The longtime public servant noted that private hospitals in Iloilo were “rebelling” against PhilHealth and withdrawing from the state health insurer, which he reiterated should be chaired by a competent fund manager or financial expert from the Department of Finance (DOF) and not by the Secretary of Health.
As one of the senators who passed the UHCA, Lacson also wondered why the law could not be funded correctly, as a fully-funded health care act means that all barangays in the country would be covered and that there would be one hospital bed for every 800 population.
In contrast, 2020 statistics show that in the country’s poorest regions such as Mimaropa (Region 4B), the ratio was one hospital bed per 10,000 people – way below the proportion of one bed for every 1,000 prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“‘Yung PhilHealth, ‘di ba, insurance ‘yun as the name suggests. Pero bakit ang ex-officio ay DOH Secretary? Hindi ba dapat nasa DOF? Insurance e, so more financing than health, kaya nagkakaloko-loko. Ang daming anomalaya,” Lacson said.
“Nagrerebelde na ‘yung mga ospital sa Iloilo. Nag-wi-withdraw na sila ng membership sa PhilHealth. What if ‘yung mga hospital lumabas sa PhilHealth? Ang mahihirapan ay ‘yung mga kababayan natin,” the Partido Reporma chief warned.
