By Ma. Teresa Montemayor/PNA
MANILA — The state-run social health insurance company vowed to fast-track the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Universal Health Care Law to operationalize its provisions earlier than the mandated six-month maximum timeline.
In a statement on Saturday, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) acting president Roy Ferrer said the agency has conducted a health care financing summit to gather insights on how to better approach health care financing issues from experts and stakeholders.
The summit with the theme “Multiple Lenses, One Collective Stand on Health Financing: A Framework for Action” was attended by local and international experts and representatives from the academe, health care providers, local governments, collecting partners and regulatory agencies.
“The sooner that we finish the IRR with the Department of Health, the earlier that this is subjected to public consultations, and more importantly the sooner it gets implemented for the benefit of our countrymen who have waited for so long for this reform in the health sector,” he said.
In a recent interview, Ferrer said PhilHealth is ready to fully implement the UHC law and that it has “adequate funds to sustain its financial obligations to all its members” amid allegations that the agency is unable to pay its debts to private hospitals.
“There had been an appropriation of PHP18 billion, this is additional to the GAA, so there’s only PHP22 billion lacking, most likely we’ll get this from the sin taxes on tobacco and alcohol, not PHP170 billion,” he said.
In line with this, Ferrer reported that PhilHealth has also completed the first round of its IRR Workshop in Pampanga where various Technical Working Groups presented and debated on the IRR’s first draft, after a series of meetings and discussions with other national government agencies.
The UHC law mandates that all Filipinos shall be automatically included in the National Health Insurance Program; guarantees immediate eligibility to program benefits; and orders PhilHealth to create a comprehensive outpatient package which includes outpatient drugs within two years after its enactment.
