The Makati City Health Department has been given an additional P300 million for the Free Medicines Program of the city government, bringing to P900 million the total budget of the program for this year.
This after members of the City Council approved last April 26 Ordinance No. 2017-059, increasing the previous P600-million fund allocated for the program.
The increase, according to Mayor Abigail Binay, was made to help defray the cost of medications needed by the beneficiaries of its Makati Health Plus Program, better known as Yellow Card.
Binay said she asked the Council to increase the budget for the program to ensure that it would be sustained with adequate funds throughout the year.
“We want our beloved Makatizens to worry less about expenses for maintenance medicines so they could enjoy a better quality of life,” said Binay.
The Free Medicines Program, which was launched in 2013 with an initial budget of P59 million, currently benefits more than 230,000 patients which include senior citizens, persons with disability, city government employees, and other active MHP members.
The program covers medicines for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardio-vascular diseases, dyslipidemia, enlarged prostate, gout, cough and colds, sexually transmitted infections, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, seizure disorder, allergy, ulcer, vertigo, and gastro-intestinal problems, and more.
It also provides free multivitamins for children, adults and pregnant patients, as well as oral and injectable contraceptives.
The city’s Health Department reports that the program has a total of 232,672 beneficiaries to date. These include 42,335 senior citizens and 171 PWDs, while the rest are other city residents, city government employees and selected national government workers based in Makati.
This July, the Makati Action Center has made door-to-door deliveries of free maintenance medicines and vitamins worth around P7.2 million to some 4,099 senior citizens aged 70 years and older and bed-ridden beneficiaries identified by the health department to be qualified for the special service.
Under the program, senior citizens aged 70 and above are entitled to receive the full dose of their monthly prescription of maintenance medicines.
To avail of the free medicines, registered members need to present a valid prescription issued to them by medical personnel from Ospital ng Makati, Makati City Hall Employees’ Clinic, as well as any of the barangay health centers in the city.
The authorized distributor, Planet Drugstore, has eight outlets in strategic locations catering to their respective clusters.
More than free medicines and vitamins, Yellow Card beneficiaries enjoy free outpatient consultations and subsidized hospitalization for emergency and in-patient care at the premiere city-run Ospital ng Makati.
Primary health care is also being provided by the city’s 26 barangay health centers, while its three lying-in clinics provide subsidized services for normal deliveries.
Last month, the city government also came up with new guidelines for the Health Plus Program replacing the color-coded payment scheme with a uniform rate and extending for three years the validity of the Yellow Card.
Yellow Card holders will no longer classified into four color-coded categories based on the family’s monthly income. Instead, a uniform rate of P500 will be charged to patients with bills exceeding P5,000, even if the amount runs up to seven digits or higher. Patients whose bills are below P5,000 will be free of charge.
Members of the Makati Health Development Council (MHDC) crafted the revised guidelines with the approval of Mayor Binay, who proposed to extend the card’s validity to three years and grant lifetime membership to qualified residents.
In the past, Yellow Cards expired before the card holder’s birthday. This had to be renewed before the beneficiary can continue to avail of subsidized healthcare services at OsMak, the 26 barangay health centers and three lying-in clinics run by the city government.
The Yellow Card Program of Makati is a recipient of the Dubai International Award for Best Practices presented by the Dubai Municipality and the UN-HABITAT in 2002 for its “Outstanding contribution towards improving the living environment.”