(First of two parts)
When Pnoy initially announced universal healthcare (UHC)—assuring each and every Filipino including the poorest of the poor adequate access to quality healthcare—as the banner of his administration’s health agenda, skeptics had a field day giving what appeared then were valid reasons it couldn’t be achieved.
The support being provided by the PhilHealth then was hardly felt. The support value was too low that the average member could still not afford the cash they had to fork out whenever they got hospitalized, so they simply avoided being hospitalized. On the other hand, those who could afford also didn’t avail of their PhilHealth benefits because they didn’t think it was worth all the hustle providing all the documents and paper requirements to avail of the measly benefits.
Dilapidated, inadequately equipped and manned government hospitals particularly in the provinces provided the grim specter of the huge unmet need of public health services which our government couldn’t fill in.
Disbeliever
I must confess I was one of the disbelievers at that time, and I recall writing in my column a possible scenario wherein the dream of “health for all” would remain an undelivered promise and would be relegated to the background during most of P-Noy’s term. Then, toward the last six months, there would be a mad rush to enrol marginalized families as card-bearing PhilHealth members. But that’s all they would have—meaningless membership cards not supported by any infrastructure to provide the promised services.
I had a brief chat with then newly appointed Health Secretary Ike Ona in one medical convention, and he told me it was going to be different this time because the political will to achieve it was strong enough to propel it against all odds. I gave him a courteous smile and wished him all the best in his pursuit of UHC, or what was later renamed as Kalusugang Pangkalahatan (KP).
Three years after KP was launched, it looks like I and the rest of the doubters will have to take back our words. By the end of last year (2013), the PhilHealth coverage rate was already 82 percent or something close to 78 million of our countrymen. This includes 5.2 million families belonging to the first quintile (20 percent) of the population or the so-called “poorest of the poor.”
The national government also appears on track to achieve its target of 14.72 million marginalized families or an additional 9.5 million including those who belong to the second quintile, or the next poorest segment of the population.
As they say, when the will and belief to achieve something are strong enough, things fall into place and the whole universe will conspire to achieve it. The passage of Republic Act No. 10351 or the Sin Tax Law came propitiously at the right time after languishing in Congress for more than 10 years. The additional support from its collection—something like P35.3 billion—was manna from heaven which helped subsidize PhilHealth coverage of the poorest 40 percent of the population.
A patient we confined recently in our hospital sought me out when he was discharged because I forgot to sign his PhilHealth paper. “Sayang rin Dok; malaki-laki rin ang mababawas sa aking babayaran sa hospital.” (It’s a considerable amount that will be deducted from my hospital bill.)
More meaning
This comment made me realize that the ordinary member can now appreciate his health insurance coverage from the government. There is now more meaning to the PhilHealth’s promise of “financial risk protection” from medical exigencies. This worry brought about the euphemism “Bawal magkasakit” (It’s forbidden to get sick).
Of course, we should still try not to get sick, but at least the average worker can now find some comfort in the thought that should he or she get sick and be confined, his/her PhilHealth coverage can help cushion the financial blow.
This is one instance when the financial progress that our country is supposed to be enjoying could translate to an inclusive growth wherein even the marginalized sectors of the population could feel the financial bounty trickling down to them.