COVID-19

Cebu Provincial Board urges PhilHealth to reconsider funding for isolation facilities

Lorraine Ecarma

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Cebu Provincial Board urges PhilHealth to reconsider funding for isolation facilities
Cebu provincial board member Glenn Anthony Soco says, 'Sweeping coverage for all types and kinds of procedures simply for being related to COVID-19' will rapidly deplete PhilHealth's funds

The Cebu provincial board passed a resolution on Monday, March 8, urging state health insurance provider PhilHealth to “seriously reconsider” and “possibly discontinue” funding for COVID-19 patients who are placed in isolation facilities.

The resolution was authored by Cebu provincial board member Glenn Anthony Soco.

“Sweeping coverage for all types and kinds of procedures simply for being related to COVID-19 will easily result to the depletion of the agency’s funds in no time,” the resolution read.

Cebu City and province have seen a spike in its new reported cases since January.

The resolution cited the projected operating losses of P147 billion in 2021. This data came from PhilHealth senior vice president for actuarial services Nerissa Santiago during a senate probe in August of 2020.

In the 4-page document, Soco justified his resolution by citing concerns over the “expeditious” depletion of public funds due to PhilHealth COVID-19 isolation subsidies.

Soco also asked for a review of its current policies surrounding the coverage of the disease in his resolution.

The provincial board usually takes up resolutions only relating to Cebu province, but this resolution urged the state insurance firm to review its benefit packages for isolation nationwide.

The Community Isolation Benefit Package is P22,449 for every Filipino isolated in accredited community isolation units all over the country.

This package covers expenses for boarding throughout the prescribed 14 days of isolation, food, hygiene kits, monitoring by healthcare professionals, diagnostic tests and imaging, oxygen support, and transportation.

The board member argued in the resolution that the continued funding for isolation centers, along with other offers such as free swab testing, would ultimately lead to insufficient funding for other diseases covered under the Universal Health Care Law.

Hold public accountable

“With the increase in COVID-19 cases in the country, it has been observed that the citizens have become complacent in the observance of the minimum health protocols since they are under the impression that the government shall shoulder all medical and hospital expenses should they get infected with COVID-19,” the resolution read.

The resolution cited no scientific study for its claim that subsidized isolation is why people are no longer following minimum COVID-19 prevention protocols.

The resolution added that, “to help combat the spread of the virus, it is about time that the public be made accountable and answerable for their own personal actuations… Sweeping coverage for all types and kinds of procedures simply for being related to COVID-19 will easily result in the depletion of the agency’s funds in no time.”

Soco also pointed to allegedly fake COVID-19 claims with PhilHealth as the reason the state insurer should be more austere in its spending.

While the NBI has already filed a complaint related to the claims, there has been no evidence to show that fraudulent COVID-19 claims are widespread.

What does this mean for affected residents?

“There’s a lot of options already for the individual to take. They may do home isolation if they don’t feel well. Secondly, they can probably take cheaper tests, or they may go to the Department of Health,” Soco suggested.

In a phone call with Rappler, Soco insisted a review must be made on the policies pointing out the disparity of the healthcare situation during the first months of the pandemic and the present.

“Previously, we have a critical care utilization rate which was higher than it is now. And there are hospitals that have not operated at full capacity yet. And the people are also more prepared to deal with COVID,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Cases in the country, however, have seen a continued rise since the beginning of 2021. On March 5, the Philippines tallied 3,045 new infections – its highest in one day since October 16, 2020.

On Monday, March 8, Cebu Province tallied 64 COVID-19 new infections, raising its number of active cases to 1,343. On the same day, the province tallied only 19 recoveries, and 0 deaths from COVID-19.

The Philippines is also the last country in Southeast Asia to legally begin vaccine rollouts. – Rappler.com

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