ROXAS PUSHES MANDATORY HEALTH COVERAGE FOR ALL FILIPINOS

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas has sought the automatic inclusion of all Filipinos under the coverage of the Philippine Health Insurance System, proposing that the government pay for mandatory entitlement for every Filipino to healthcare benefits provided under the government's health insurance program.

In filing Senate Bill No. 3154, Roxas proposed that "every Filipino citizen shall be entitled to mandatory healthcare coverage by their immediate and automatic inclusion to Philippine Health Insurance coverage and membership" as mandated by Republic Act 7875, or the National Health Insurance Act of 1995.

"Mahalaga ang kalusugan ng bawat isa sa atin. Responsibilidad ng pamahalaan na siguruhing malusog ang ating mamamayan (The health of every Filipino is important. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that our citizens are healthy)," he said.

The proposed mandatory universal healthcare coverage shall be funded by the National Government through premium payments to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), which shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

The Visayan senator insisted there is need for the government to include all Filipinos under the coverage of Philhealth, noting that 48.4% of the total P181 billion total expenditures for health in 2005 came from out-of-pocket expenditures of individual families, while government's share was only 28.7%.

Social health insurance, on the other hand, account for only 11% and health expenditure from other sources, like private health insurance or community-based financing account for only 11.9%.

He said that since 26.9% of Filipino families are below the poverty threshold, "it is unimaginable how Filipinos who are everyday grappling with the hardships of economic realities, will be able to afford a decent healthcare service for themselves and their families."

Roxas has authored the Cheaper Medicines Act, which has made cheaper but quality medicines more accessible to the people.

"Dapat hindi pinapabayaan ng gobyerno ang kalusugan ng mamamayan. Ipaglalaban natin ito (The government should not neglect the health of all Filipinos. We will fight for this right)," he stressed.