‘Aquino’s target of health care for all by 2013 realistic’

MANILA, Philippines – President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III hopes to give every Filipino access to health care by 2013.

Speaking on ANC’s “The Rundown” Wednesday night, health experts believe, if the Aquino administration uses its resources right, it can achieve this goal.

Former Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez says the incoming government can meet that target by tapping into PhilHealth’s sizeable reserves.

“The 3 to 5-year time frame is realistic in terms of making a dent on the needs of the poor,” Romualdez says.

But, he admits, changes must be made in the business culture of the national health insurance system.

“In the initial stages of PhilHealth, the mindset was to behave as a private insurance company. That means they have to make money. Their collections of premiums should be substantially higher than their payout of benefits. This is contrary to the idea of social solidarity, which is the principle behind a national health insurance program,” he explains.

PhilHealth reserves

Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral says, based on its last financial statement, PhilHealth had more than P100 billion in its coffers.

She adds, under the law, PhilHealth is supposed to keep two years worth of benefits paid out in reserve.

Cabral says, this year, PhilHealth paid out P30-35 billion, which means it has P65-70 billion in reserves.

“The next administration should consider consolidating all the monies and resources that they have in many agencies, put them in one pot, and make sure it’s availed of rationally by the poorest who deserve it,” Cabral says.

“Last year, PhilHealth earned P31 billion and only P20 billion was spent, so they saved P10 billion which could have been spent for the poor,” adds former Health Secretary Jaime Galvez Tan.

Tan says PhilHealth has P10 billion in interest and P10 billion in unexpended finds, plus a P5 billion appropriation from the General Appropriation Act (GAA), P2 billion of which were spent for the poor.

‘Improve infra, manpower’

Tan believes the incoming administration can do a lot in three years, more so if government resources are well-managed, and improvements are made to the country’s health infrastructure and manpower resources.

While corruption is not necessarily to blame for such gaps in the health care system, Romualdez admits, correcting flaws in the system is critical to meeting the health targets of the incoming administration.

“Reforms needed in health sector are basic, and a great deal of change needs to happen if we’re going to provide health services for all people, not just for those who can afford it. We need culture change in PhilHealth, a change in how we organize our health care services. Right now, it’s fragmented. We need to unify, strengthen the regulatory system,” Romualdez says.

Citing the new law to strengthen the regulatory system, Cabral says, there’s an opportunity for the incoming administration to strengthen regulations.

“Our information system in health is pitiful. There’s much we can do with new information technology, which will make it easier for health managers to deal with problems of people. We need to ensure people have more say in the running of hospitals, we need to have some mechanism to make sure people have access to highest levels to lodge their complaints,” Cabral says.

While the 2013 target may be realistic for 85% of PhilHealth patients who have 30% health care coverage, Cabral admits improving the value of coverage may take time.

Increasing coverage

She adds, in a meeting set for this week, they hope to get hospitals to increase PhilHealth coverage to 80%.

She adds improving access to health facilities in isolated areas, creating a working referral system, and providing adequate compensation for health care workers would also go a long way in improving the delivery of health care.

“We need to put more health facilities in these areas so they can reach these people who are in the isolated and depressed areas,” Cabral says. “We have to make sure we have a working referral system so we don’t have to put CT scans in all these hospitals. There should be some means of transporting people to areas where facilities are available and experts can attend to more complicated illnesses. It should be possible to compensate those who go to hardship areas more than we compensate doctors who work in cities or urban areas where facilities are better and personal satisfaction is easier to come by.”

By setting its priorities straight, health experts believe, the Aquino government is in the best position to make much-needed changes in the health sector, aimed at giving all Filipinos affordable and adequate health care. –Caroline J. Howard, ANC