4,000 Makatizens get lifetime Yellow Card membership under Mayor Abby

Makati City Mayor Abby Binay (center, in white) talks to a constituent while visiting residents. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MAKATI CITY — Over a year after Makati Mayor Abby Binay initiated reforms in the Makati Health Plus Program (MHP), popularly known as Yellow Card, a total of 62,307 cardholders have been registered as of December 2018, including 4,101 who were granted lifetime membership and no longer need to renew their cards.

Based on the MHP Office report to the mayor, there were 4,845 new applications approved and 56,048 renewals in 2018. The new cardholders included 2,687 new lifetime members, in addition to 1,414 approved in 2017.

Upon assuming her post in 2016, Mayor Abby identified Access to Quality Health Care Services as one of the main policy directions of her administration and vowed to pursue 100 percent Yellow Card coverage of all eligible Makatizens, including residents and City Hall employees.

“The Yellow Card Program is one of our greatest legacies to the city. It was born out of my father’s sincere desire to give the poorest of the poor quality health care services and medical benefits,” Mayor Abby said.

“We continue to improve and expand the benefits and privileges Yellow Card members receive, to ensure the health of the future generation of Makatizens. Residents are assured that they will continuously be treated by medical experts and receive free medicines,” she explained.

Makati City Mayor Abby Binay (left) talks to a woman in a store while visiting constituents. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The MHP Office further reported the breakdown of Yellow Cards issued by type, as follows:  21,152 family cards (with dependents); 19,780 solo cards; 14,351 senior citizens; 2,923 city government employees; and 4,101 lifetime or permanent card holders.

Yellow Card holders and registered dependents are entitled to free outpatient consultation and subsidized hospitalization and diagnostic tests at the city-run Ospital ng Makati (OsMak), which recently earned its ISO 9001:2015 certification.

They can also be referred to partner-facilities like the Makati Medical Center to avail themselves of specialized medical and diagnostic services that may not be not available at OsMak, using their Yellow Card.

Their primary health care needs are also provided by 26 barangay health centers, supported by six satellite laboratories linked to OsMak.

The card also gives them access to free medicines, including maintenance medicines for hypertension, diabetes and other lifestyle diseases, distributed through eight pharmacy outlets in strategic locations throughout the city.

Upon Mayor Abby’s directive, the validity period of the Yellow Card was modified to take into consideration the length of membership, status of residency, and age of the stakeholder.

Instead of the annual renewal for all types of card on the cardholder’s birthday, there are now four classifications for the card’s validity period. These are lifetime membership, and validity periods ranging from one year to three years.

The city also replaced the Yellow Card’s color-coded payment scheme that was based on household monthly income. Under the new guidelines, OsMak patients with total hospital bill of P5,000 and below are free of charge, while those with a bill of over P5,000 will be charged a uniform rate of P500 only, regardless if the amount reaches six or seven digits.

To qualify for lifetime membership, applicants who are 60 to 79 years old must submit a Certified True Copy of the latest Certificate of Non-Delinquency of Real Property Taxes, with the tax declaration bearing the applicant’s name.

Makatizens aged 80 years and above who have been Yellow Card holders for the past six years shall qualify for lifetime membership without having to submit the said document required of the younger age group. Only those who do not meet the prescribed period of membership with the program shall be required to submit the tax declaration.

Retired Makati city government employees, regardless of residency and Comelec registration, will also be granted lifetime membership with the Yellow Card.

Yellow Cards valid for three years are granted to registered voters and actual residents of Makati City, city government employees and senior citizens who are 60 years old and above who do not meet the qualifications for lifetime membership. The three-year validity also applies to regular employees as well as casual employees who have served the city for at least six years.

For casual city government employees who have been in the service for five years, relocatees, and National Government employees who are assigned in Makati City, Yellow Cards valid for two years are issued.

Meanwhile, Yellow Cards must be renewed annually by registered voters but non-Makati residents, as well as city government employees on job order, contractual, consultants and casual who have been in service for less than five years.

Besides moving the MHP office to the ground floor of City Hall and putting in place a more efficient registration system, Mayor Abby also ordered the establishment of satellite offices in strategic locations to receive applications, thereby easing congestion at the main office. /cbb