Rep. Garin: Increasing coverage of PhilHealth benefits ‘doable’

MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Janette Garin on Thursday said increasing the coverage of benefits for Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) members is “doable.”

Garin, a former health secretary, emphasized that this was already part of the responsibility of PhilHealth as a government insurance.

READ: PhilHealth open to proposed expanded coverage in private hospitals

“It’s doable. Ang PhilHealth ay isang insurance. It’s a government insurance, at ‘yan po ang insurance kasi para dun sa mga mangyayari sa iyo na hindi mo pine-predict, kagaya ng nagkasakit ka,” said Garin in a press conference.

(It’s doable. PhilHealth is an insurance. It’s government insurance, and that’s because insurance is for emergencies, like getting sick.)

“So doable talaga at dapat taasan iyong coverage dun sa mga sakit na puwedeng magpahirap sa’yo,” she added.

(So, it’s really doable, and coverage for illnesses that can cause financial difficulties should be increased.)

Garin cited cancer treatments as an example, overscoring how much it could affect even well-off Filipinos due to how expensive treatments are.

“This should be addressed by PhilHealth. Kasi ang layunin ng PhilHealth ay maibsan ang gastusin ng mga nagkakasakit. But the way things are going, napakaliit ng kanilang naitutulong,” said Garin.

(This should be addressed by PhilHealth because its goal is to alleviate the expenses of those who get sick. However, with the way things are going, the assistance they provide is minimal.)

According to Garin, one of PhilHealth’s problems was unnecessary insurance packages – such as wart removal packages, which she got rid of when she was PhilHealth chief – and over-the-top admin costs.

“[What we need to do] is increase the coverage of PhilHealth on a per illness factor,” said Garin.

READ: PhilHealth charter review, more benefits for members pushed

Garin made the pronouncement after Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez previously asked a House panel to review PhilHealth in possibly expanding benefits to cover at least 50 percent of costs in private hospital wards, as well as free examinations for certain diseases.