Gov’t urged to channel CCT funds to PhilHealth

The Aquino government should consider reducing the budget of the Department of Social Welfare’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program and channel its funds to the Philippine Health Corp. (PhilHealth) where it could be used to provide free medical and surgical procedures to its members.

According to Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano, the huge budget of the CCT program could be put to better use at the PhilHealth.

Albano maintained that the government should provide more funds for PhilHealth as the agency started implementing last Sept. 1 the new case rate method which covers packaged rates for 22 selected medical cases and surgical procedures applicable to both government and private-accredited hospitals.

He said allotting more funds to PhilHealth than the CCT would be a better option since members and beneficiaries of PhilHealth are properly identified and registered with the agency.

“Unlike in the CCT program where we don’t know who the beneficiaries are, and how they have been specifically chosen, members and beneficiaries of PhilHealth can easily be verified through their registration documents which are readily available at the insurance agency,” Albano said yesterday.

The following are PhilHealth’s medical cases and their corresponding package rates: Dengue I (P8,000); Dengue II (P16,000); Pneumonia I (P15,000); Pneumonia II (P32,000); Essential Hypertension (P9,000); Cerebral Infarction (CVA I, P28,000); Cerebro-vascular Accident with Hemorrhage (CVA II, P38,000); Acute Gastroenteritis (P6,000); Asthma (P9,000); Typhoid Fever (P14,000); and Newborn Care Package in Hospitals and Lying-in clinics (P1,750).

On the other hand, the surgical procedures include Radiotherapy (P3,000 per session), Hemodialysis (P4,000 per session), Maternity Care Package (MCP, P8,000) coupled with the Normal Spontaneous Delivery (NSD) Package in Level 1 (P8,000) and Levels 2-4 hospitals (P6,500), Caesarian Section (P19,000), Appendectomy (P24,000), Cholecystectomy (P31,000), Dilatation and Curettage (P11,000), Thyroidectomy (P31,000), Herniorrhaphy (P21,000), Mastectomy (P22,000), Hysterectomy (P30,000) and Cataract Surgery (P16,000).

“PhilHealth members and beneficiaries can avail of these for free if the government would provide more budgetary support for PhilHealth. One way of doing that is by reducing the huge CCT budget and transferring the amount to PhilHealth,” Albano said.

He said the CCT program has met heavy criticisms from lawmakers and the citizenry because of questions on its implementation, especially the mechanisms for choosing the beneficiaries. But instead of heeding the critiques, the Department of Budget and Management, headed by Secretary Florencio Abad, has increased the budget for the CCT.

“In fact last August, Commission on Audit director for special audits Susan Garcia disclosed that not all beneficiaries of the CCT program in 2009 were actually qualified to receive stipends. She said the guidelines for the selection of the poorest families were not followed, “said Albano.

The original scheme of PhilHealth was the pay for service where rates are based on the category of hospital, length of stay at the hospital, kind of illness, complications, among others.

For 2011, the government allotted a budget of P29.194 billion for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the DSWD. Of this amount, P21.194 is for the CCT program implementation. For 2012, the proposed budget for the CCT is P39.444 billion.

On the other hand, the subsidy for PhilHealth in 2011 amounts to only P3.5 billion, while the proposed budget for PhilHealth in 2012 is P12.028 billion. –Gerry Baldo, Daily Tribune