Security tightened at Baseco venue for PhilHealth registration

Security was tightened at the Baseco area in Manila's Tondo district early Saturday, in time for the start of a nationwide registration for government health insurance. Radio dzBB's Manny Vargas reported presidential guards secured the complex at Baseco where President Benigno Aquino III was to launch the national PhilHealth registration program. The event was scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday. Health Secretary Enrique Ona said PhilHealth desks will be put up in Department of Health (DOH) regional offices, public schools, municipal halls, community halls, and DOH-retained hospitals nationwide. The registration targets Filipino citizens who are at least 21 years of age and non-members of the program. It is also open to 18- to 20-year-olds who may need to register; contributors who are still unregistered; those not issued their PhilHealth Number Card or Family Health Card yet; and those already registered but who may want to update their membership profile with PhilHealth. Ona said the activity is part of Aquino's campaign promise to have 100-percent health insurance coverage of all Filipinos in three years. “In keeping with P-Noy’s promise to give each and every Filipino access to quality health care in three years time, he will be distributing PhilHealth cards to the very poor Filipinos previously identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as true indigents and already enrolled by their respective local government chiefs in PhilHealth," he said. Ona added all PhilHealth regional and service offices and government as well as premier commercial centers nationwide will hold registration for non-members. Ona, who chairs the PhilHealth’s board, organized a multi-sectoral task force to set into motion Aquino’s directive aiming to achieve a universal health insurance for Filipinos. He heads the task force composed of the DOH, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the DSWD, the Department of Education (DepEd) as well as the National Anti Poverty Commission and the Leagues of Provinces, Cities and Municipalities. The DILG will help the DOH engage local chief executives in the enrollment of indigents in their respective jurisdictions as identified by the DSWD, while DepEd shall help set up PhilHealth desks in all public schools to encourage students and their parents to register and become PhilHealth members. The program mainly targets those from the self-employed and informal sector who comprise some 53 percent of the population, a substantial portion of which, can afford to pay for health insurance as individually paying members (IPMs). Local government units and other non-government organizations may choose to sponsor families without the means to pay but were not included in the DSWD list. Citizens are also enjoined to go to any of PhilHealth’s 17 regional offices and close to 100 service offices in their respective localities. Upon registration, they will be advised to activate their membership by paying the required contribution of at least P300 for a quarter or P1,200 for a year’s payment at any accredited collecting partners nearest them. A duly activated membership and completion of all eligibility requirements shall entitle a member and his/her qualified dependents medical care subsidies when confined in accredited hospitals anywhere in the country. “I encourage all Filipinos especially those who are not yet members of PhilHealth, let us go out and avail of this opportunity to be registered with PhilHealth on October 2. Let us protect ourselves from the financial effects of health emergencies and medical situations in the family," Ona said. Details on the open registration are available at www.philhealth.gov.ph or through PhilHealth member relations Department at (02) 637-6456. — LBG, GMANews.TV