PhilHealth services made available to healthy poor

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) on Sunday said it was aiming to provide 14.7 million poor families free and easy access to basic healthcare services even without an illness.

Under the program dubbed “Tamang Serbisyo para sa Kalusugan ng Pamilya” (Tsekap), indigent families may consult a primary care doctor and avail themselves of “preventive and promotive” services to keep themselves healthy, according to PhilHealth president Alex Padilla.

The services include blood-pressure monitoring, breast-feeding counseling, stopping smoking and lifestyle modification, cervical and breast cancer screening, digital rectal exam, among others.

Upon the recommendation of the doctor, diagnostic tests such as a complete blood count, urinalysis, fecalysis, sputum microscopy, fasting blood sugar, Lipid profile and chest X-rays may be availed of under the program.

Medicine for asthma (with nebulization services), acute gastroenteritis with no or mild dehydration, minimal or low risk pneumonia, and urinary tract infection would also be made available to poor families, said Padilla in a statement on the eve of the program launch.

Tsekap is part of the state insurance firm’s and Department of Health’s multisector advocacy campaign, “Alaga Ka para sa Maayos na Buhay” (Alaga Ka), aimed at ensuring that poor members are properly instructed on how to avail themselves of basic health services at rural health centers, he said.

The advocacy will be formally launched simultaneously throughout the country on Monday with the main event taking place at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

The activity will be attended by at least 2,000 indigent beneficiaries from various parts of Metro Manila, who will receive their updated member data records. These beneficiaries may also avail themselves of Tsekap services during the event.

“Through Tsekap, poor families will be more empowered to see a doctor and demand medical attention even without an illness,” said Padilla.

He said the campaign was a “clear manifestation” of the government’s concern for the less privileged by making primary healthcare effectively accessible to them.