PhilHealth may cover all seniors

Senior citizens. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines–The Senate on Monday approved a bill mandating the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to cover all the country’s senior citizens.

Nineteen senators voted to approve on third and final reading Senate Bill 712, which seeks to provide automatic PhilHealth coverage to Filipinos 60 years and older regardless of their social or economic status.

In effect, the measure seeks to amend the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, which places only indigent senior citizens under PhilHealth coverage.

As of June, PhilHealth has covered 3.9 million senior citizens as lifetime members, dependents, sponsored or indigents, according to Sen. Teofisto Guingona III.

Some 2.16 million senior citizens have yet to receive health insurance coverage, he said.

“The government will need about P5.2 billion annually to provide the remaining 2.16 million citizens with insurance. But this amount is small when we compare it to the hope we would give to our grandparents. This is a small price to pay for the promise of universal health care we have promised our citizens,” Guingona said.

Pending enactment of the measure, Sen. Ralph Recto said PhilHealth coverage would continue to be limited to indigent senior citizens.

Under the bill, all senior citizens, whether indigent or not, would be enrolled in PhilHealth, using the National Health Insurance Fund.

Recto, principal author of the measure, said PhilHealth can spare the expense to provide for the health needs of elderly Filipinos. It has P116 billion in reserves and P62 billion in income as of the end of 2013, he noted.

Six of every 100 Filipinos are 60 years old and above, Recto said. A good number of them are already covered by PhilHealth through various schemes, he said.–TJ Burgonio

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