PhilHealth Eastern Visayas embarks on massive registration of non-members

TACLOBAN CITY, March 3 (PNA) – State-run Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is eyeing to enlist an estimated 300,000 to 350,000 individuals in Eastern Visayas who are not covered by the government’s health insurance program.

The health insurance will conduct massive village level registration in the region until end March.

“The purpose of registration is to find out how many people are qualified to receive premium subsidies from the government. The next step is enrolment. We hope to complete the process within the first quarter of 2017,” said PhilHealth Eastern Visayas regional vice president Renato Limsiaco.

As of this week, PhilHealth has already validated about 100,000 names for enrolment from six provinces in the region. The listing covers non-members under the age bracket of 21 to 59 years old.

Premium subsidy for non-members will be sourced out from the PHP3 billion balance from the 2016 General Appropriations Act and PHP50.2 billion from the 2017 allotment for priority groups. 

The government’s subsidy is intended for village officials, community volunteers, poor families listed in the National Household Targeting System, senior citizens, and conditional cash transfer recipients.

“Those who can afford should pay their premium since the subsidy is only for those who have no capacity to pay,” Limsiaco said.

The more than 300,000 non-PhilHealth members account seven percent of the region’s 4.5 million population in 2016. 

Last year’s official report listed at least 4.19 million health insurance members in the region with 71 percent of them are indigents. 

The village level massive registration is in compliance to President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive for universal health insurance coverage for all Filipinos.

The state insurance firm has been asking support from various stakeholders to support the universal coverage.

On Thursday, hundreds of PhilHealth officials, governors, mayors, and health workers gathered in Palo Leyte for the Visayas area health financing forum.

The gathering discussed the 2016 accomplishments of health insurance programs, directions under the administration of President Duterte, and recommendations to attain the universal coverage.

A government owned and controlled corporation under the Department of Health, the Philippine the PhilHealth was created in 1995 to implement universal health coverage in the country.(PNA)
FPV/SARWELL Q. MENIANO