Gov’t urged: Build more health centers

MANILA, Philippines - An opposition lawmaker urged the government to use a portion of the P100-billion reserve fund of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to build public health centers to fill the shortage of government clinics.

Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap said the scarcity of public health centers and clinics, especially in the countryside, makes access to health care services difficult for people living in these areas.

He said the lack of funding by the national government for the construction of more health care facilities has made the problem of easy access to health care services difficult to address.

Yap filed House Bill 6447 proposing the utilization and appropriation of a portion of PhilHealth’s reserve fund.

“Government owned and controlled corporations like the PhilHealth can be sought to provide assistance. PhilHealth reported a net reserve fund of more than P100 billion,” he said.

The bill amends Section 27 of Republic Act No. 7875, otherwise known as the National Health Insurance Act of 1995, which states that 50 percent of the amount of the Investment Reserve Fund shall be automatically earmarked to augment the Department of Health (DOH)’s health facilities enhancement program and shall be known as the “Expanded Public Health Care Infrastructure and Services Fund.”

“Fifty percent of this amount would go a long way in developing and expanding to the poorest of the poor Filipinos free public health infrastructure and services,” Yap said.

The bill also provides the poorest municipalities and barangays without sufficient public health care infrastructure and services would enjoy priority in funding.

Yap said the operations of such health facilities should be handled by the barangay under the joint supervision of the DOH and PhilHealth.

“With the passage of the bill, the right of the people to good health is protected,” he said.