Ex-DOH chief tells Pinoys: Get impatient with govt on health care

Filipinos — known for their resilience — should start getting impatient with government in demanding health care for all, a former Health secretary told a group of journalists over the weekend. Dr. Alberto Romualdez, who served as Health secretary during the Estrada administration, said Filipinos should assert their rights after he and other Health secretaries failed in instituting universal health care in the Philippines. “All of us began with the promise of universal health care," Romualdez said, referring to former Health secretaries like him in a health reporting seminar-workshop in Quezon City. “I think we should start getting impatient." The problem is that people in government do not consider this an urgent problem because “they are not part of the communities that are deprived," Romualdez noted during the forum in the seminar-workshop organized by the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines and the Journalism for Nation-Building Foundation. “It’s urgent for people who have no voice," he explained. Former Health secretaries Jaime Galvez-Tan, Francisco Duque II, and Esperanza Cabral also spoke before journalists during the event. Take the blame All former Health secretaries should take the blame for the sorry state of Philippine heathcare services, Romualdez claimed. “We all got our chance, and the situation is not just bad. It’s worse than it was when we all first started," he said. “The health gap between poor and rich has worsened, has widened, and I don’t know anyone else to blame except me, because the fact is that we’ve all failed." Cabral, who served under the Arroyo administration, echoed Romualdez’s sentiments. “Everybody is to blame for this thing that has happened in the health situation in the country. And certainly, that includes the healthcare providers, the doctors like myself," Cabral said. “So kailangang tingnan talaga natin ang sistema," she added. Zeroing in on Philhealth During the forum “Universal Healthcare: What Should We Do to Achieve It?" the health secretaries zeroed in on state-run health insurance fund Philhealth. Cabral cited some doctors’ practice of billing their patients hefty amount even if Philhealth has already increased the benefits for healthcare providers. “The reason is, that is human nature," Cabral said. “It is Philhealth that should have realized that this is what is going to happen because this is not the first time this has happened. It happens every time." “But Philhealth keeps doing the same thing every time," she explained. “They've been increasing the benefits to the providers without telling them, ‘O, tataasan ko 'yung ibibigay ko sa 'yo. Ang ibig sabihin no'n, bawasan mo 'yung sinisingil mo sa iba.’" “‘Pagka may ginawa ang Philhealth at sinabi sa duktor, “O, mula ngayon, kasi tinaasan ko na ang benefits mo, hindi mo puwedeng taasan 'yung sinisingil mo sa member para bumaba ‘yung out-of-pocket cost niya,’ kailangang maintindihan niya ‘yon," she said. “Kailangang malaman niya na hindi lahat ng tao ay makakabayad sa kanya ng ganoon," Cabral added. Galvez-Tan, a Health secretary under the watch of former President Fidel V. Ramos, noted another problem regarding Philhealth — this time on coverage. He cited the experience of a rural area in Zamboanga where 55,000 Philhealth cards recently arrived for distribution, but only 15,000 were distributed because the indigenous residents had to present birth certificates to claim their cards. They had none. “Why not just enroll everyone?" Galvez-Tan said. “Why do they have to show birth certificates? Why do they have to show marriage certificates, for example, thereby immediately having exclusion criteria?" Aquino admin on the ‘right track’ Duque, who also served under Arroyo, said the Aquino administration “is very much on track in terms of pursuing universal health care." “Clearly, they have decided to stay the gains that we have generated during the past administration," he explained, citing the 11 million poor families targeted for Philhealth enrollment. “I agree with Dr. Duque that this administration is on the right track," Romualdez said in response. “But you know, more than a year and a half later, I think you should be asking, ‘Ano na ang nangyari? ’" — VS/HS, GMA News