Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte is seeking fast action from the House of Representatives in passing the bill that institutionalizes “Malasakit Centers” which became the launching pad of Senator Christopher Go’s candidacy in the May senatorial elections.
Villafuerte made the call following last September’s approval of the consolidated Malasakit Center bill by the Committee on Health.
Villafuerte said these centers will be “health system enablers” designed to improve patient assistance and referral and provide additional non-medical support to poor Filipinos in need of medical treatment.
“The establishment of Malasakit Centers will complement the UHC [Universal Health Care] program,” said Villafuerte, one of the co-authors of the consolidated measure endorsed by the committee.
Even with a UHC program in place on the Duterte watch, Villafuerte said there will still be challenges in the prompt delivery of quality health service to Filipinos, especially for marginalized families unable to afford medical care.
In his fourth State-of-the-Nation Address on July 22, Duterte called on the Congress to urgently pass a bill expanding Malasakit Centers, which he credits Go for conceptualizing.
“The Malasakit Centers hopes to fill the gaps in service delivery of health care in the country. It is therefore the intention of this bill to institutionalize the Malasakit Center and that centers be established, maintained and operated in all hospitals of the Department of Health, local government units [LGUs], Department of National Defense [DND] and State Universities and Colleges [SUCs],” said Villafuerte, deputy speaker for finance and Camarines Sur representative.
His version of the Malasakit Centers under his original proposal—House Bill 543—proposes to help poor patients shoulder their out-of-pocket payments for medical care and even non-medical expenses such as transport fare. Maricel V. Cruz
“Noble as the UHC law is in its intentions, out-of-pocket payments may still arise as the UHC relies on health benefit packages determined by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.,” as he claimed that data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that such expenses accounts for 55 percent of health expenditures.