Headline UHC ready for take off

MediaTitle Philippines Daily Tribune(www.tribune.net.ph)

Date 05 Jun 2019 Section NEWS Order Rank 2 Language English Journalist N/A Frequency Daily UHC ready for take off Filipinos will start enjoying the long-awaited benefits of the Universal Health Care Act (UHC) next month when the Department of Health (DoH) is expected to complete its implementing rules and regulations (IRR), two months ahead of its September deadline. Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said the DoH wanted to finish the consultation with other concerned sectors before the end of July. “We’re given six months from the approval of the law and based on our count, the deadline set is first week of September, but we are trying to produce it before the end of July,” Villaverde said. Under the UHC law, the DoH and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) were required to come up with the guidelines for the implementation of the law after 180 days or six months after President signed the act on 20 February. The DoH and PhilHealth were also mandated to consult and coordinate with appropriate agencies, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, private sector representatives and other stakeholders to complete the IRR. Villaverde said there are still many “hanging questions” to resolve to complete the IRR’s final version, such as the setup of the local health system. He said the DoH is still looking into the integration of the management system in municipalities, cities and provinces. Outgoing Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito who is principal author of the law said, when the IRR is published, “the UHC, which we worked hard for, will now be felt by Filipinos.” “As soon as the document is finished and the law is already operational, our people will finally be freed from financial stress when seeking primary, curative, and palliative services,” Ejercito said. Health system eyed

He said they will conduct a series of public consultations in parts of Luzon, Metro , Visayas, Mindanao and in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. “(This was done) so that we can see what will be the consensus (of the local government units) and to hear the proposals from the front liners, including the local government units, on how we can organize the local health system,” he said. Villaverde added after they craft the first draft of the IRR, they still have to consult with legal experts to avoid potential questions of its legality or constitutionality. Envisioned under the law is the increase in PhilHealth coverage for primary care that will expand to cover 120 drugs and there will be no limit on primary care treatment conditions. This will happen with the enactment of the new sin tax bill that will also expand barangay health care facilities and will be better equipped to render primary health care, he said. Kickstarting program

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said to get the program going in the first year, the government should cover only half of 120 drugs, choose a few medical conditions to expand the seven currently covered by PhilHealth and patients will continue to shell out up to 90 percent of their money for their medicine expenses instead of just paying a fixed fee. From 2020 to 2024, government funding can cover UHC at around P200 billion annually, while the cost of the program will start at P257 billion in 2020 and grow at an average of around P11 billion to P12 billion per year, amounting to a five-year total of around P1.44 trillion by 2024. Without substantially adjusting the current sin tax rates, Dominguez said the cumulative funding gap by 2024 will reach P426 billion. For next year, the government can cover the cost of the UHC program from its current funding sources from the national budget, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in the amount of P195 billion. Without sin tax reform, UHC will be left with a funding shortfall of around P62 billion. The rise in incomes and slower increases in sin taxes over the past few years have made cigarettes and alcoholic drinks increasingly affordable to the average Filipino, which, in turn, has raised anew the number of smokers, especially among the youth, and made binge drinking more prevalent. Raising tobacco taxes in 2012 succeeded in reducing smoking prevalence from 29 percent during that year to 22.7 percent in 2015. However, smoking has gradually been on the rise, reaching 23 percent in 2018, eroding the deterrent effects of the 2012 “sin” tax law.