Chiz to DOH: Increase Support for Pilot Provinces in Universal Health Care Act
Pilot provinces for the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act need greater support from the Department of Health (DOH), including more resources for the improvement of primary health care facilities and the training of health workers.
Sorsogon Gov. Chiz Escudero said not all local government units (LGUs) in the 33 pilot provinces for UHC implementation have sufficient budget for health spending to be able to establish the functional health care provider network (HCPN) required by the UHC law.
“The pandemic response of different LGUs across the country shows the glaring gap in their health capacities and their unpreparedness for UHC implementation. While all mayors and governors are willing to spend on health, the fact is, there just is not enough money to spend,” said Escudero, whose province Sorsogon is among the pilot provinces.
While Sorsogon has been laying the foundation for HCPN for the past three years, achieving International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for all its nine public hospitals, most provincial governments are still struggling with the health burden from COVID-19 and have minimal or no resources left to prepare for UHC implementation.
A study by the Asian Development Bank revealed that 51.6% of rural health units across the Philippines are ill-equipped while many district hospitals are poorly staffed, forcing patients to go to private hospitals or health centers that charge them.
“This beats the whole point of UHC. If we want UHC to work and truly provide health care for all, we must invest in our public health facilities, especially at the first point of service, which are the barangay health stations and rural health units. While health services have been devolved to LGUs, the truth is most LGUs would not be able to move forward without funding support from the DOH,” Escudero said.
“Bilang dating mambabatas na ngayon ay gubernador, nakikita at nararamdaman ko ang disconnect sa magandang layunin ng ating batas at sa mahirap na realidad sa na kinakaharap ng LGUs para isapatupad ang UHC Act,” the Sorsogon governor, who is running for a Senate seat, said.
Helping LGUs improve their health facilities would also allow these facilities to meet the accreditation requirements of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), which means more indigents can seek treatment in PhilHealth-accredited hospitals without paying a single centavo.
The Universal Health Care bill was signed into law in February 2019, mandating massive health care reforms particularly in the delivery of primary health care and health insurance coverage. The law aims to provide free and quality health care for all Filipinos.
As of August 2020, 85.4% of the country’s population are registered members of PhilHealth, according to the DOH. The goal is to enroll 100% of Filipinos by 2022. #
