‘Sin’ taxes to fund health care

The government will use the proceeds of increased taxes on cigarettes and liquor to provide funding for the medical insurance coverage of low income families under the Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) program, President Arroyo said yesterday.

The President said the additional revenue will be channeled to augment PhilHealth funding to benefit six million poor Filipino families.

A Palace-certified bill now pending in Congress proposes adjustments in the so-called sin taxes.

While local governments pay their share of medical insurance premiums for indigent families living in their areas of jurisdiction, Mrs. Arroyo said the national government, through the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), is the biggest contributor to the PhilHealth program, as mandated by law.

The President said she issued strict orders to PCSO Chairwoman Livia "Honeygirl" Singson-de Leon to ensure the allocation for PhilHealth is sustained.

"Whenever they (PCSO) submit projects to me, I always tell Honeygirl, ‘Don’t ever reduce payment of premiums on health insurance because we have a target,’" the President said.

She said her administration is determined to comply with its commitment to provide medical insurance coverage to at least six million indigent families nationwide by the end of her term in June 2004.

"Once the reforms on liquor and cigarettes are passed into law, we will speed this up to ensure coverage of universal health insurance to all poor families," she said.

The President recalled the law creating PhilHealth was passed in 1995 when she was still senator, and set as a goal universal health insurance coverage for all Filipinos. Since then only less than half a million indigent families have been provided with PhilHealth coverage.

"Now, after two and a half years of my presidency, from less than half a million, there are now more than two million poor families covered by PhilHealth," she said.

"Because each family average is five members, this means almost ten million Filipinos will be covered by health insurance," she said. "If this is the pace of PhilHealth, within the next three years, we can include all the six million poor families."

The President said the payment of health insurance premiums is P100 monthly per family, or P20 a month for each family member.

Middle-income families or workers are covered by PhilHealth through the Social Security System (SSS).

"If we add the workers and poor families, with the help of local government, almost half of Filipinos are now covered by PhilHealth insurance," she said. "So many will get free medical treatment." — Marichu Villanueva