Press Release
February 19, 2009

Loren asks Philhealth to increase coverage of poor Filipinos

Senator Loren Legardahas called on the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) to broaden its coverage of beneficiaries to include 1.5 million families that are still outside of its coverage.

Senator Legarda made the call during a hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Health and Demography that she chairs.

During the hearing, Philhealth reported that it is now covering the health insurance needs of 3.3 million Filipino families, leaving a deficit of 1.5 million families.

"I commend the efforts of Philhealth to realize its primary objective of providing health insurance coverage to our people. However, there are still much room for progress as more Filipinos live in poverty and are denied access to health care," Loren said.

The senator cited the 2006 Family and Income Expenditure Survey which showed that 27 percent of all Filipino families, or about 4.8 million families, live below the poverty line.

Loren in particular emphasized the need to expand health coverage benefits to children and the elderly, being the most vulnerable sector. She cited the government program to reduce mortality rates, especially those of children.

"Better health care for our people translates to a more happy and productive population. Preventive health care also saves more money as diseases are identified early on, thereby requiring less costly medical intervention than when diseases and ailments had been detected at advanced stages," she said.

In Senate budget deliberations, Loren has always worked for the allocation of more funds for the health care of poor Filipiinos, especially through Philhealth.

"We are constantly looking into proposed policies that will strengthen Philhealth and ensure that it is able to serve more of our people, especially the poor," said Loren. "Furthermore, in the light of the global economic crisis, the government must not set aside health concerns, but instead increase the provision of social services."

To date, Philhealth covers 76 percent of the population, with the employed sector comprising the biggest chunk with 8.2 million active members, according to Philhealth president and chief executive officer Dr. Rey B. Aquino.

Those from the less privileged sector society comprise 24 percent of Philhealth membership, while individual subscribers, including self-earning professionals and daily wage earners, comprise about 18 percent or 2.72 million paying members.

Loren said that a healthy population improves work productivity, not only due to better output but also because of man hours saved in the workplace.

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