03 Nov President Duterte Gave Free PhilHealth Cards to 1M Indigents in Mindanao
About 1,173,435 poor and indigent beneficiaries in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and in other parts of Mindanao received a free Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) cards.
President Rodrigo Duterte led the ceremonial turnover of the PhilHealth cards to beneficiaries as he visited ARMM’s regional center on October 29, Saturday.
About P2.8 billion budget was allocated by the national government for the distribution of free PhilHealth cards for ARMM in the year 2016.
Aside from ARMM, conflict-affected areas such as Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, and Central Mindanao will also receive PhilHealth cards as they are also covered by the Comprehensive Reform and Development Agenda (CRDA).
The free health cards are under PhilHealth’s National Health Insurance Program, which was launched to offer health insurance coverage and ensure affordable, acceptable, available and accessible health care services to all Filipinos.
PhilHealth officials explained that the free PhilHealth cards, covers the health insurance for a year and that are renewable.
Through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) identified the beneficiaries recognized as poor families or whose income are insufficient for their living.
The PhilHeath card serves as a ticket to receive medical benefits.
This socialized insurance program acts as a way for the healthy to aid the sick in paying for the care and for those who can afford medical care to back those who cannot.
News Source: Mindanao Examiner
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