STA. ROSA CITY, Laguna – Former Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson on Saturday pushed for the full and proper implementation of the Universal Health Care Act, so the Philippines can have a barangay-level health care system that can at least approximate the efficient health care system in Cuba.
Lacson said this can be done by ensuring the proper funding of the UHC Act, such that it will cover all Filipinos in all barangays – even as he said the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) may not be able to give 100 percent free health benefits to Filipinos.
“You know me as a watchdog of the budget. I scrutinize it to help make sure that the laws we pass like the UHC, Free Tertiary Education Act, and other laws passed by Congress do not get paralyzed due to lack of funding,” he said in Filipino at the press conference of the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate here.
“We want to make sure the UHC Act covers all barangays. When we are stuck at the low end, we are just having pilot programs in selected barangays. But when we go to full implementation, we cover all barangays,” he added.
Related: Ping Lacson, Nais ang Barangay Level Health Care System
Lacson said the Philippines may want to approximate the health care system in Cuba, where each block has a health center or clinic, such that residents need not seek health care because the clinic goes to them.
While he said the Philippines may not match this efficiency as it is much larger than Cuba, it should at least get cues from Cuba’s system.
“We may not replicate Cuba because we are much larger than Cuba, but we should at least strive to approximate because health is important to us. Here in the Philippines, if you are rich and you get sick, you get poor. But if you are poor and you get sick, you’re as good as dead. That is the reality we must face to solve the health problem in our country,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lacson said PhilHealth may not be able to give 100 percent free health benefits to all Filipinos at this time, based on the data from PhilHealth itself.
He said PhilHealth is subsidized by government through the national budget to augment the premiums paid by paying members – but not all Filipinos who avail of PhilHealth benefits pay the premiums, while seniors are exempted from paying membership dues.
“What we need is the full implementation of the UHC and we should find out how much PhilHealth needs to cover, if not 100 percent of health care, at least to expand the cases it can cover,” he said.
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Ping Lacson, Nais ang Barangay Level Health Care System
STA. ROSA CITY, Laguna – Nais ni dating Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson na makamit ng Pilipinas ang maganda at episyenteng barangay-level health care system na tulad ng sa Cuba, sa pamamagitan ng maayos na implementasyon ng Universal Health Care Act.
Ani Lacson, magagawa ito sa pamamagitan ng pagtiyak ng tamang pagpondo sa UHC Act, para masakop nito ang lahat na barangay – lalo na’t hindi kaya ng Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) ang 100 porsyentong libreng free health benefits para sa lahat.
“Ako for one palaban tayo sa budget. Mahilig akong magbusisi, mag-scrutinize ng budget para siguraduhin na ang mga batas na naipasa, UHC, Free Tertiary Education, at marami pang batas na naipasa ng Kongreso, pag di nabigyan ng sapat na pondo, parang napilay lang,” aniya sa pulong pambalitaan ng Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate dito.
“Yan pinagsusumikapan namin na ang UHC Act para mga health center at lahat na brgy ma-cover. Kasi pagka sa low end tayo, parang pina-pilot mo lang mga barangays, namimili kung saan implement. Pero kung mapunta sa full implementation ma-cover lahat na barangay,” dagdag niya.
Ani Lacson, maaaring gayahin ng Pilipinas ang health care system sa Cuba, kung saan may health center o clinic sa bawa’t bloke, kaya ang residente ay pupuntahan ng clinic sa halip na pupunta sila sa clinic.
“Hindi natin kaya sa laki ng Pilipinas, but at least we should strive to approximate kasi ang health napakaimportante sa tao. Dahil sa ating bansa, pag mayaman ka at nagkasakit ka, maghihirap ka. Pag mahirap ka at nagkasakit ka, patay ka. Yan ang isang realidad na kailangan natin mabuti na maigi para masolusyonan natin ang health problem sa ating bansa,” aniya.
Samantala, ipinunto ni Lacson na maaaring hindi makayanan ng PhilHealth ang mabigyan ng 100 porsyento libreng health benefits sa lahat ng Pilipino sa ngayon, base sa datos ng PhilHealth mismo.
Aniya, subsidized ang PhilHealth ng gobyerno sa pamamagitan ng national budget para masakop ang premium na bayad ng nagbabayad na myembro, pero hindi lahat na nag-avail sa PhilHealth benefits ay nagbabayad ng premium, habang exempted ang mga senior.
“Again, ang titingnan natin ang implementation ng UHC para mapagaralan magkano ba talaga ang kailangan ng PhilHealth para tustusan kung di man 100% at least ma-expand ang mga cases na mako-cover nito,” aniya.
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