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Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC). The city government agreed to
be the pilot area for the newly launched Social Health Insurance, a
Medicare package called Philhealth Plus.
Philhealth Plus is an expanded health insurance package that
provides uniform in-patient as well as out-patient benefits, such as free
consultation, medicines and laboratory examination in all Philhealthaccredited
centers. Using this package, the Pasay City government
sought to enroll at least 15,000 indigent households in the Philhealth
Plus program, ensure 100% registration by business establishments, a
20% increase in the individually paying program (IPP) of Philhealth, install
monitoring systems in health centers, and have a permanent Philhealth
office in City Hall by 2004.
Aside from tapping the funds available through the Philhealth Plus
program, the city government also ensured that funding for the health
program continued. The capitalization fund was turned into a trust fund,
the interest of which was used to upgrade facilities and services and
procure additional laboratory supplies and medicines. At least 20% of
the interest earnings were earmarked for administrative costs in the
form of incentives divided among the health personnel directly involved
in the program.
The barangays became the active partners in implementing the
program—from the identification of the indigent families for enrollment
with the Philhealth Plus program, to instilling health, environmental and
cleanliness awareness. At the same time, the private sector was also
involved in continuous advocacy, networking and linkaging.
To provide leadership in implementing the programs, teams were
established to manage and supervise the health services being provided.
The teams are being trained continuously. As part of the standardization
process, monitoring mechanisms are now in place to check on the
progress and to immediately identify and address gaps in the programs
being implemented.
The Numbers Tell the Story
The indigent families which were the targeted beneficiaries of the
program have been identified, issued their health passports and are
now availing themselves of services being offered both at local health
centers and accredited hospitals. In 2002, at least 9,319 indigent
families were already enrolled in the Philhealth Plus program, 5,042 of
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