Makati residents to get better health benefits

The Makati City government has distributed health cards, which sorts its holders into four categories based on their monthly income, to 25 of the city’s 33 barangays.

Mayor Jejomar Binay said the new Makati Health Plus (MHP) cards, commonly known as yellow cards, will “promote a more equitable delivery of health benefits to the city’s constituents.”

Binay said under the new system, residents with a monthly income of P6,000 and below are categorized as MHP-I, identified through a yellow strip on the right-hand side of the card. 

In case of hospitalization or in-patient care, an MHP-I beneficiary pays nothing if the total hospital bill is only P5,000 or lower, he said. For bills that reach P5,001 and higher, only P200 is required as token payment, for which an official receipt is issued.

Binay said MHP-II cards, with a blue strip, are issued to those earning P6,001 to P12,000 monthly while green-coded MHP-III cards are issued to those with a monthly income of P12,001 to P20,000.

He said red-coded MHP-IV cards are for those earning P21,000 and above, who will still get huge discounts on their hospital bill.

The corresponding discounts on the total hospital bill granted to the three other categories are as follows:  MHP-II, 90 percent; MHP-III, 85 percent; and MHP-IV, 75 percent, , he added.

Meanwhile, Edgardo Collado, Makati Action Center head, said the MHP registration in Barangay Rizal will be from April 7 to 25, and the cards will be released to qualified applicants from May 16 to 17.

Registration will be from April 28 to May 9, while releasing of the cards will on May 31 in Barangay Southside, while in Barangay Pembo is registration is going on and the cards will be released from April 25 to 26.  —Michael Punongbayan