Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — About 20 million Filipinos will receive free health care assistance, after the Department of Health (DOH) promised free hospitalization and medicines for poor Filipinos next year.
Ninety-two percent of the population has Philhealth coverage, but with the additional ₱3-billion increase for Philhealth in the 2017 budget, the remaining 8 percent will also get free coverage.
DOH Secretary Paulyn Ubial said under Philhealth’s “No Balance Billing” policy, the government will also pay for the medical bills of Philhealth sponsored members.
Qualified sponsored members are orphans, abandoned and abused minors, out-of-school youths, barangay workers, and volunteers.
“The hospital will treat them, no balance billing, ibig sabihin wala sila ilalabas sa bulsa [this means, they will not spend from their own pockets],” Ubial said.
With free government healthcare, any illness will be treated. Even major procedures like open heart surgery and kidney transplant will be shouldered by the government.
Some indigent families already receive free hospitalization in public hospitals, but guidelines are still being finalized to include private hospitals next year.
However, Philheath doesn’t cover outpatient services – this is one reason some Filipinos struggle to buy medicines.
But starting next year, the DOH will address this problem by providing free medicines in rural health units, health centers, and barangay health stations. Filipinos only need to present a prescription.
To ensure that the program will not be exploited, indigent patients must be listed under the government’s National Household Targeting System, a database that identifies the poorest households in the country.
Ubial said that through these health benefits, 20 million poor Filipinos will have a better chance of becoming productive members of society.
