Philhealth for 37-T poor families

About 37,000 indigent families in Cebu City will secure PhilHealth coverage for this year following approval from the City Council.

The council asked for a copy of the list of Philhealth beneficiaries to be posted in the barangay halls of the 80 barangays.

Councilor Noel Wenceslao said the city government should set clear guidelines in the selection of Philhealth beneficiaries to prevent the program from being used for politics.

“They shouldn’t worry about that because it’s their work but I am worried about them because I don’t do that,” mayor Michael Rama said in an interview.

The council is dominated by the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) party members.

Councilor Ronald Cuenco, who chairs the council health committee, said about 85 percent of the beneficiaries were renewed from last year’s list while the rest are new beneficiaries.

He said those not included in the 2011 list earned more than P5,000 a month in combined family income and were disqualified from the program.

Councilor Alvin Dizon asked for the criteria in the selection of Philhealth beneficiaries.

Councilor Jose Daluz III, Rama’s ally in the council, said Philhealth has its own criteria for the identification of indigent families.

The city through the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) only endorses beneficiaries to Philhealth for admission in the health care program.

Cebu City’s health program is partly subsidized by Philhealth.

The city government allocates P22.2 million for the enrollment of 37,000 indigent families, the same amount put up by Philhealth as counterpart in the program.

Catherine Yso, former DSWS head, told the council that beneficiaries should earn less than P5,000 in combined monthly income and should also be endorsed by barangay officials.

They will also undergo profiling and validation by DSWS.

Yso said the profiling of the 2012 beneficiaries started in November 2011 yet and lasted four to five months which explains the delay in the renewal of their Philhealth coverage.

ABC president and T. Padilla barangay captain Michael Rallota said they didn’t receive any list of beneficiaries in their area.

He said barangays should be involved so they could monitor the beneficiaries. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac