City council gives mayor go-signal on PhilHealth contract

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Council has authorized Mayor Michael Rama to renew the contract with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and spend about P22.2 million for the enrolment of some 37,000 indigent families to the government’s insurance firm.

The city legislators approved the motion of Councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, who requested the executive department to first provide the City Council with a list of the new beneficiaries as one way to determine whether the program is not being used by the mayor to boost his political interest.

Councilor Ronald Cuenco, chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Health and Hospital Services, admitted that 15 percent of the 37,000 beneficiaries are new because some of the previous beneficiaries had been employed already and their PhilHealth contributions are shouldered by their employers.

Councilor Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa suggested that the names of the beneficiaries, particularly the new ones, should be also posted in the barangays aside from submitting the list to the City Council so that the barangays may also counter-check their names.

Some city legislators believe that the mayor or his subordinate officials will not heed the City Council’s request to provide them with the names of the beneficiaries like what they did when asked for the names of the livelihood assistance program beneficiaries prior to the distribution of the cash assistance.

Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. said the list should be submitted by the executive department to the City Council first before distributing the PhilHealth cards to the beneficiaries.

One of the requirements for choosing a beneficiary is that the couple’s monthly income should not exceed P10,000.

Family-beneficiaries of the 4Ps program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Cebu City will be prioritized to become beneficiaries of the free PhilHealth benefits.

Under the scheme, PhilHealth will shoulder half of the annual contribution, while the other half shall be shouldered by the city.

PhilHealth shall also shoulder a portion of the bills of members or dependents confined in hospitals.

Members or their dependents confined at third level hospitals like Chong Hua, PhilHealth will pay P500 up to P1,100 for the room accommodation everyday for a period of 45 days, depending of his illness; P4,200 to P40,000 for drugs and medicines; and P3,200 up to P30,000 for laboratories and others.

Qualified dependents are the legitimate spouse, legitimate, legitimated, illegitimate or adopted children below 21 years old, and parents who are more than 60 years of age if they are not PhilHealth members.  (FREEMAN)