City gov’t to identify ‘indigents’ from 37,000 Residents

CEBU, Philippines -  The Cebu City Government is yet to determine if the 37,000 indigent residents in the city can still be considered “indigents.”

This, after the city government failed to renew the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. membership this year.

The city has allocated P22 million for the 37,000 indigent families in the city, but since the PhilHealth has doubled its premium, the city had to end its membership for now.

However, Social Welfare head Ester Concha said that there are still 17,000 out of the 37,000 who are still enrolled in their PhilHealth coverage under the National Household Targeting System.

Concha said that the remaining 20,000 can still avail the health assistance of the city through City Hospitalization and Medicine Program (CHAMP).

CHAMP is one of the programs of the city that give assistance to qualified beneficiary can avail of P5,000 worth of medicines from the City, P5,000 for laboratory fees and a maximum of  P25,000 for hospitalization.

City Administrator Lucille Mercado said they will have a meeting with Mayor Michael Rama next week to discuss the PhilHealth membership of the 20,000 indigent residents.  (FREEMAN)