Additional 18% discount for QC’s seniors eyed

To make Quezon City’s senior citizens “feel the love” on their birthday, a councilor has proposed that they be given an additional 18 percent discount on medical and dental services they may avail themselves of in any laboratory, clinic or hospital in the city.

he “birthday treat” is on top of the 20 percent discount and VAT-exempt privilege they are already entitled to under the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010. To qualify for the additional discount, they  must avail of the medical or dental services within 15 days of their birthday.

Under Councilor Maria Victoria Co-Pilar’s proposed ordinance, all of the city’s public and private hospitals, clinics and laboratories as well as doctors and dentists will be required to give an additional 18 percent discount to elderly residents on laboratory fees, basic medical and dental checkups and other services as long as these are done within two weeks of the beneficiary’s birthday.

Pilar said that she wanted to encourage senior citizens in the city to undergo annual medical and dental checkups and avail themselves of other health services as they were more susceptible to diseases.

She added that she hoped this would make them “feel the love, care and concern of the Quezon City government on their birthday.” According to data from the Quezon City government website, as of April this year, the city had 15 government and 32 private hospitals, 271 medical clinics, 154 dental clinics and 141 laboratories.—Jeannette I. Andrade