By Noel Punzalan/ PNA
KIDAPAWAN CITY –The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) has announced that all indigents under the Point of Service-Financially Incapable (POS-FI) registered in 2018 were automatically renewed of their membership, an agency official said Wednesday.
During its first management committee meeting on Tuesday, Nevin Hallegado, PhilHealth-12 membership section head, said the membership coverage for Calendar Year 2019 of indigents has been renewed in accordance with the Membership Management Group Memo No. 2019-002.
Hallegado said member-beneficiaries under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan, including the Bangsamoro members enrolled in 2018, are also being manually renewed by their respective regional offices.
Other sponsored and indigent members are encouraged to verify their status through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health, the Barangay Health Workers or Local Health Insurance Offices nearest them if they are not included in the list for renewal in CY 2019.
“Not all members under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) program have been automatically renewed as the DSWD decided to limit the coverage of some beneficiaries up to five years only,” Hallegado said.
There are about 121,000 4Ps and Modified Conditional Cash Transfer program beneficiaries that were downloaded to PhilHealth-12 for manual enrolment/renewal this year.
PhilHealth has required those not renewed to enroll as voluntary members under the informal sector, and pay their contribution at PHP600 per quarter; PHP1,200 per semester or PHP2,400 per year for continuing coverage.
Meanwhile, shifters from sponsored/indigent programs to the informal sector were given up to six months to amend their membership category to continue their coverage.
PhilHealth also reminded all self-paying members of the nine months’ contribution to update policy payments within 12 months prior to admission to ensure uninterrupted coverage.
Nonetheless, those who are newly registered but financially incapable members requiring immediate medical care may avail of PhilHealth benefits through the Point-of-Care services (POS) in a ward type of accommodation in government facilities.
As policymakers of the Universal Health Care Law currently sets the standard of PhilHealth’s implementing rules and regulations, PhilHealth 12 acting regional vice president Marjorie Cabrieto, advised everybody to keep themselves abreast of the new policy.
“Given these demanding tasks ahead, we could not afford to take all our duties for granted,” she said.
