PhilHealth to hire 600 nurses for CARES prog

CEBU, Philippines - At least 600 nurses will be hired by the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to provide superior “customer care” to the members and dependents seeking treatment in accredited hospitals.

PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Eduardo Banzon yesterday said that the nurses would be part of the agency’s Customer Assistance Relations and Empowerment Staff (CARES).

Banzon was in Cebu yesterday along with LPG Marketers Association (LPG-MA) party-list representative Arnel Uy for the ceremonial handshaking with Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to mark the launch of a project that would provide 1,000 indigent families in Mandaue City free health insurance protection.

According to Banzon, the 600 nurses that will be recruited nationwide would be deployed in the PhilHealth accredited hospitals like Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Mandaue City hospital.

“We must stress that we are dedicated to look for the welfare after every PhilHealth members and his or her dependent,” Banzon said. He said CARES nurses would also encourage non-members to register with PhilHealth and to facilitate the payment of insurance premiums in the cashiering units of government hospitals.

In a press conference, Cortes thanked PhilHealth and Rep. Uy for choosing Mandaue City indigents to be the initial recipients of their project.

Uy agreed to use a portion of the party-list group’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to subsidize the annual premiums of indigent families for the next two years.

“Daghang mga programa nga maayo lang sa sinugdanan, mayo lang sa launching pero dili mapadayon but kaning PhilHealth kahibalo ako nga daghan pa kaayo ang makapahimulos niini,” Cortes said.

“We at PhilHealth adhere to the principle that access to insurance is part of an individual’s right to health and is the responsibility of the state and society as a whole,” Banzon said.

Ty said LPG-MA committed that the portion of his PDAF will be allotted to subsidize the annual premiums of indigent families for the next two years.

Banzon said the PDAF allocation will help advance President Benigno Aquino III’s commitment to provide every Filipino family adequate health insurance protection. – (FREEMAN)