Bulk of DOH budget allotted for insurance of poor families

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto is optimistic that 14.7 million poor families can avail themselves of better health services next year as the government has earmarked bulk of the P81.7-billion budget of the Department of Health for the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP).

Recto said the NHIP would get a lion’s share of the DOH budget with P35.3 billion allocated for the enrolment of 14.7 million “poor and near-poor families” in the health program.

With this amount, 100 percent of indigent families identified in official poverty counts would be covered by health insurance.

“It (DOH budget) is definitely a booster shot. It is P30 billion bigger than the DOH’s adjusted budget of P51.9 billion this year,” Recto said. 

Recto added that P2.8 billion have been earmarked for Family Health and Responsible Parenting, which includes the procurement for Rotavirus vaccination for 2.4 million infants.

Also to be procured next year are P10.2 billion worth of medicines and vaccines. Included in the buying list are vaccines costing P2.8 billion for 2.7 million children targeted by an “expanded program on immunization.”

The budget would also allow the DOH to hire 131 “doctors to the barrios,” regularize the employment of 22,500 nurses who were taken in as contractual workers, and field 3,000 midwives.

Recto said P3 billion have been placed as initial year’s salary of this “army of health workers.”

About P13.3 billion of DOH’s budget, meanwhile, would be used for the rehabilitation and construction of 2,871 health facilities and purchase of new equipment.

Nine leading specialty hospitals would be given P2.3 billion for the construction of new buildings and purchase of medical equipment.

Funds were also allocated to spruce up 962 barangay health stations, 1,265 rural health units, 561 hospitals run by local governments, and 60 hospitals operated by the DOH.

Recto also welcomed the planned purchase of P4.3 billion worth of apparatus that would allow health facilities nationwide to improve their diagnostic and treatment capabilities.