Health professionals’ group laments Duterte ‘turnaround’ in PhilHealth stance

A group of health professionals on Thursday criticized President Duterte’s “complete turnaround” in his stance on the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) during his State of the Nation Address (Sona).

In his Sona on Monday, Duterte said that the government expanded PhilHealth coverage and benefits and strengthened the No Balance Billing (NBB) policy, which exempts indigents and other marginalized sectors from paying their bills in government hospitals.

Health Alliance for Democracy (Head) chairperson Dr. Darby Santiago said Duterte “completely backtracked” on his stance on PhilHealth during the campaign and “now continues with the Department of Health’s band-aid solutions to age-old public health problems.”

“He has forgotten that during the 2016 presidential debates, he was the only candidate to criticize PhilHealth, for which he was applauded and supported by many who wanted to see real changes in healthcare,” Santiago said in a statement.

During the campaign, Duterte questioned fellow candidate Mar Roxas on the effectiveness of PhilHealth as no one from Davao City, where he was the mayor, benefited from the state insurance.

“But now, Duterte is singing a different tune,” Santiago said.

The doctor said strengthening the NBB policy “is useless” when there are inadequate government hospitals and when health facilities are poorly funded and understaffed.

“Even indigent members wind up paying for the medicines themselves or, worse, go to private centers because these are the only ones nearby,” he added.

Santiago lamented that the direction of the Duterte administration “reveals much of the interests it now represents.”

“President Duterte is now far removed from the people he alleges to serve. This is not the leadership we deserve. This is not the change that we want,” Santiago said./rga