GMA: Government health care program geared to the poor

President Arroyo said yesterday that her administration’s health care program being implemented by the Department of Health (DOH) and other government agencies is geared to serve the marginalized sector of the society.

In her weekly press conference held at Malacañang Heroes Hall, the President said some half a million urban poor have already been enrolled in the government’s national health insurance program which is being administered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), formerly Medicare.

The President also said that as part of her program to ensure better health for Filipinos, she has ordered the DOH and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to provide government hospitals with cheap medicines imported from India.

But the President said that much as she wanted to build more public hospitals in Metro Manila and the provinces to serve the poor, this could not be done because of budgetary constraints.

That is why, the President said, she has ordered the wider coverage of health insurance so that private hospitals can serve the less privileged members of society.

The poor can avail of the services of these private hospitals and the insurance will pay for their medical bills, Mrs. Arroyo said.

The President also ordered Maria Livia "Honeygirl" Singson, chairman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), to provide endowments or funds for the improvement of the services of existing hospitals, such as the Philippine National Railway (PNR) Hospital in Caloocan City and the Zamboanga Medical Center in Zamboanga City.

During the press briefing, the President also congratulated the St. Luke’s Medical Center for its plan to put up a new hospital at the Bonifacio Global City.