AnaKalusugan Party-list believes the government should prioritize ramping up its efforts to provide accessible healthcare to the public.
This after a recent survey by the OCTA Research group showed that staying healthy remains the most urgent personal concern for majority of Filipinos.
According to Reyes, AnaKalusugan Party-list also did an informal survey as early as January last year showing a trend that people are realizing the value of health as a priority.
“It is no surprise that health remains the top priority of our kababayans. We in government should waste no time in working to ease this growing concern,” AnaKalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray T. Reyes said.
“Fine tuning and implementing necessary improvements to Universal Healthcare (UHC) Act should be a priority to provide our kababayans with greater access to high quality health services and treatments,” he added.
Reyes, who is the vice chair of the House Committee on Health, cited problems with Philhealth registration as one of the stumbling blocks in the efficient implementation of UHC.
He called on Philhealth to streamline its validating process and make it easier for Filipinos to avail of healthcare services.
“Under the UHC lahat ng Pilipino miyembro na ng Philhealth. So bakit pahirapan pagdating sa mga ospital. Hindi ba dapat isang valid ID lang sapat na?” he said.
“Bakit kailangan pa natin pahirapan yung mga taong nagtatrabaho nang maigi para lang makuha ang serbisyo na dapat nakalaan sa kanila,” he added.
Reyes also questioned the excess funds of Philhealth amounting to P200 billion which he said should be used in providing healthcare services to the people.
“Lumabas sa budget meeting natin na ang Philhealth may excess na 200 billion pesos. Way above na ng normal operating cost nila ang 200 billion. Ibig sabihin kahit na isang taon hindi makakolekta ang Philhealth ay may pera pa rin sila,” he said.
“Tumataas ang Philhealth premium pero hindi naman tumataas ang case rate. Ang tagal din ng service at ang liit ng coverage. Dapat ibigay na lang ang perang ito sa tao at sa Universal Healthcare,” he added.
According to Reyes, AnaKalusugan Party-list also did an informal survey as early as January last year showing a trend that people are realizing the value of health as a priority.
“There is a growing demand that health care should be provided by the government as part of its priority services, and if possible, subsidized to fulfill the mandate of Universal Health Care,” he said.
“Ibig sabihin lamang nito ay dapat lalo pang paigitingin ng pamahalaan ang mga programang pangkalusugan para maramdaman ng ating mga kababayan na hindi sila napapabayaan,” the lawmaker added.
