THE spate of bad news hogging the headlines and online news makes you just want to pack your bags and live elsewhere. But again, there are good acts that remain unheralded, not given emphasis, or just shunted to an obscure corner in the news.
One of them is that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and private insurers are building on the Yaman ng Kalusugan (Yakap) to maximize primary care coverage. PhilHealth and major health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and private health insurers (PHIs) have joined hands to make primary health care more affordable and accessible for Filipinos.
PhilHealth, together with Maxicare Healthcare Corp., MediCard Phil. Inc., PhilhealthCare Inc., Health Plan Phil. Inc., United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corp., Asalus Corp. (Intellicare), Medicare Plus Inc., Avega Managed Care Inc., Cooperative Health Management Federation, Pacific Cross Health Care Inc., Insular Health Care Inc. (iCare), The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.) and InLife Benefits Insurance Co. Inc. sealed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing the PhilHealth Yakap-HMO/PHI Benefit Complementation initiative in support of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law.
Under the MOU, PhilHealth will serve as the initial source of coverage for primary care services through its Yakap program, while private insurers complement this coverage by providing additional benefits.
“With PhilHealth Yakap as the first layer of protection, our private partners can focus their benefits on what lies beyond the program package. That way, every Filipino gets more care for every peso,” said PhilHealth acting President and CEO Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho.
“Together, we can establish a system that builds a healthier, more productive Philippines, where quality health care empowers every Filipino to drive the nation forward,” PhilHealth board member and Finance Secretary Frederick Go said.
As the secondary payers, HMOs and PHIs can cover costs that exceed PhilHealth benefit limits or fall outside primary care coverage, such as specialized procedures, branded medications or hospital room upgrades.
Yakap covers consultations, 13 laboratory tests, selected outpatient medicines under the Gamot package and outpatient services for six cancer screening tests. Under the PhilHealth primary care program, specialized outpatient benefits such as animal bite treatment, maternal care, tuberculosis DOTS, HIV/AIDS management and mental health services are also included, as applicable.
The direct integration of PhilHealth Yakap with private insurance policies establishes a more seamless health care system to prevent duplicate payment and effectively lower patients’ out-of-pocket costs of shared beneficiaries.
PhilHealth urges all members and policyholders to register for PhilHealth Yakap via the eGovPH app, PhilHealth member portal or nearest PhilHealth office to instantly maximize their primary care coverage alongside their private HMO benefits.
Additionally, PhilHealth invites other HMOs and private health insurers to join this complementation network to expand financial protection and deliver seamless, affordable primary health care to every Filipino family nationwide.
A complementary program is the financing agreement signed by the Philippines with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to promote a more responsive Universal Health Care for Filipinos. The government, through Finance Secretary Go, has signed a JPY119.745 billion (around P48 billion) financing agreement with the ADB that will unlock funding support for reforms to strengthen the country’s universal health care system and expand access to quality and responsive health services.
The financing will support the Build Universal Health Care Program-Subprogram 3 (BUHC3), which focuses on strengthening health financing, improving the delivery of health services and enhancing information management and accountability across the health system.
“By signing this agreement, we are making a long-term investment in the country’s human capital and resilience. With the support of our development partners, we can advance reforms that will build a stronger, more responsive health system and better equip it to serve Filipinos,” Secretary Go said.
The program will support reforms in three key areas: sustainable financing and strategic purchasing for universal health care; integrated delivery of quality health services; and information management and performance accountability.
It will also support reforms that address gender-specific health concerns and the health impacts of climate change, helping make the health system more responsive and resilient to emerging needs.
Building on the gains of the first two subprograms, BUHC3 adopts a programmatic approach to support the systematic implementation of health policy reforms at both the national and local levels.
The program is being implemented by the Department of Health and PhilHealth.
If you just scroll your social media platforms every day or read the terrible news everywhere, you will just get depressed and think of what the Anglo-American poet W.H. Auden calls “elsewhereishness.” Auden was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he never got it. And now that thought makes me wonder who would clinch this year’s award and bring home the $1-million prize money?
My bet goes to Jamaica Kincaid, a brilliant writer from the Caribbean, whose lush and beautiful prose dealt with issues of postcolonialism and the diaspora, but written in words that resemble colors.
Danton Remoto has published the novels “Riverrun” and “Boys’ Love” for Penguin Southeast Asia, as well as “The Heart of Summer: Stories and Tales.” He has also translated three Tagalog classic novels into English for Penguin SEA. His books are available at Fully Booked, National Bookstore, Central Books website, www.acrephils.com, Shopee and Lazada; Kinokuniya in Asia; and globally at independent bookstores and Amazon.