Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa —Richard A. Reyes
MANILA, Philippines — A congressman on Wednesday called on Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa to just resign if he continues to be indifferent to his signed commitment to address key issues in the country’s health-care system, including the elimination or reduction of Filipinos’ out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Rep. Wilbert Lee of Agri party list said in a statement that Herbosa and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. did not even bother to comply with the commitments they made when they were seeking money from the government.
Lee explained that Herbosa and Ledesma signed on Sept. 25 written commitments to resolve lawmakers’ concerns when they were defending DOH’s proposed budget for next year.
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The commitments included the submission by Oct. 31 of a comprehensive plan with timelines to lower the out-of-pocket medical expenses of Filipinos and a comprehensive report on the availability of medicines and vaccines.
There was also a commitment to implement a 50-percent across-the-board increase in PhilHealth benefits by this month.
Other commitments also included free pediatrics and adult prescription glasses effective November 2024, free diagnostic tests (such as positron-emission tomography scan, computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging) and at least 80-percent coverage for cancer treatments and heart procedures not later than Dec. 31 this year.
Sense of accountability
But, the lawmaker claimed, that aside from failing to submit the promised plan, Herbosa did not even bother to respond to Lee’s follow-up letters on Oct. 7 and on Nov. 5.
“It is clear that the DOH, which chairs the benefits committee of PhilHealth, should lead the implementation of this agreement. If Secretary Herbosa has no plan to abide by his commitment, he should resign,” the lawmaker said in Filipino.
Lee urged his colleagues to adopt his House Resolution No. 2090 calling for Herbosa’s resignation, saying, “The document with commitments signed by Health Secretary Herbosa and PhilHealth chief Ledesma is not only for their ministerial duties, but also for their genuine compliance [with] Congress as an institution and ultimately to the Filipino people who deserve a better health-care system.”
“The DOH and Secretary Herbosa’s failure to resolve fundamental health issues reflects a lack of effective leadership and accountability,” he maintained.