PH gets pointers from Mexico’s universal health care program

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines is again taking a leaf from Mexico, this time in rolling out an effective universal health care program for all Filipinos.

The Department of Health has started comparing notes and getting pointers from the Mexican government, which was also the country’s model in implementing the conditional cash transfer program four years ago.

“The Philippines has many similarities with Mexico including its population and the number of people living in poverty,” said Health Secretary Enrique Ona in a recent interview with reporters following his study tour to Mexico.

The DOH has been doing the groundwork since 2010, to carry out President Aquino’s marching order for every poor Filipino to obtain health insurance.

The state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) aims to cover 100 percent of poor Filipinos but the coverage of uninsured is currently at 38 percent, according to the Philippine National Demographic and Health Survey.

The figure translated to only 20 percent health insurance coverage among poor households, said the survey.

Ona said a similar health care program, “Seguro Popular,” effectively practiced in Mexico may be suitable in the Philippines because the two countries share similar economic conditions and to a certain extent, political mechanisms.

Since 2003, Seguro Popular has provided healthcare benefits to poor residents by providing them with financial grants for medicine and medical care. The program has effectively covered 43.5 million individuals or almost 90 percent of the uninsured in the last eight years, the DOH said.

Mexico has one of the lowest revenue collection rate in Latin America with almost 50 percent of its population living below the national poverty line, according to the health chief.

In the Philippines, 20 percent or roughly 20 to 25 million Filipinos have been in the ranks of the “poorest of the poor,” he pointed out.

He also added that Mexico was chosen to be the government’s “knowledge partner” in creating the country’s own universal health care because its program was being implemented in a decentralized setting.

“Similar to the Philippines, the Mexican health system has fragmented health financing and service delivery arrangements, which generate duplication and inefficiency,” said Ona.