PhilHealth caravan at two hospitals

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PHIC)-7 established Mobile Health Caravans (MHC) in two tertiary hospitals in Cebu City – the Cebu Doctors Hospital and the Chong Hua Hospital from February 27 until 29.

Philhealth-7 Information Officer Atty. Karina Agraviador said the MHCs will accept remittance reports, membership application forms, issue Membership Data Record (MDR) and identification cards (IDs).

“The MHCs will be located at the information desks of the hospitals to be manned by social insurance officers,” Agraviador said.

Also, in order to boost PhilHealth membership target to 100 percent, the agency is selling gift checks (GC) as a means of sponsoring an individual to become a PhilHealth member.

Cristina Ramos, the head of the Planning Unit of PhilHealth-7 and the Danao Service Office announced, they are selling P600 worth of GCs for those who want to sponsor any individual to become a PhilHealth member.

The P600 worth of GCs will be valid up to June, this year or covers two quarters if the bearer uses it this month, according to Ramos.

Ramos, however, said that if the bearer uses it in July, then the P600 GC will be good only for one quarter or from July to September because the premium contribution will increase from P1,200/year to P2,400 annually.

Agraviador on the other hand, reminded that the validity of the GC is only six months from the date of purchase and solely for payment of PhilHealth premiums. 

Meanwhile, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) in Cebu will be improving their communication with its members.

GSIS assistant regional manager Atty. Mercedes VPE Enriquez said the agency will be placing GSIS bulletin in every Local Government Unit for their advisories, updates and other important information.

Enriquez said they will be working closely with the Cebu Association of City and Municipal Public Information Officers (CAOCAMPIO) for better dissemination of information regarding their services.

Enriquez already met with members of the CAOCAMPIO to orient them on GSIS mandate and services.

She also talked about technological approaches used by the agency in information dissemination and other modern technologies to channel its services to its members.  — (FREEMAN)