News
PhilHealth Mulls Enrolment of Microfinancing Institutions
- July 20, 2007
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) recently called on microfinancing institutions and rural bankers associations to provide health insurance coverage to their individual members through the organized group enrolment initiative.
Through KaSAPI or Kalusugang Abot-Kaya sa PhilHealth Insurance, informal economy workers are provided with the health insurance protection they need and in the process help PhilHealth achieve universal coverage.
In a recent forum at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati City, PhilHealth Acting President and CEO Lorna O. Fajardo said that partnerships through KaSAPI "complete the menu of social services" that the organized groups can offer to their members, adding that the enrolment scheme "enhances the viability of the organization and gives members the security they need" especially where medical emergencies are concerned.
On the other hand, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III who also sits as Chair of the PhilHealth Board of Directors recognized the need to include the informal sector in the country's economic agenda, especially since "they are vulnerable and are exposed to various risks." He added that for PhilHealth to achieve its mandate of universal coverage, it should also cover the informal economy and emphasized to MFIs that "health insurance should be part of any social security service" for the said sector.
The forum also had as panelists Cleofe Montemayor, Manager of CARD Inc.; Emmanuel Guina, Executive Director of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines; Evangeline Escobillo, Insurance Commissioner; Theresa Soriano, ASEC for Internal Affairs of the Department of Labor and Employment; and Gilbert Llanto, Vice President of the Philippine Institute of Development Studies.
Recent literature on the informal sector profile in the country showed that there is an increasing demand for health insurance coverage among microfinance and other institutions which reflects the expressed need of their individual members. In light of the rising cost of hospitalization, more and more MFIs are exploring means by which to offer financial protection to their members in times of illness.
Fajardo said that among the challenges in implementing the KaSAPI was the need to further study the organized groups' "language," and the need to continuously market the program as a more viable alternative. "We are here to further expand that horizon" and appealed to heads of MFIs and other organized groups to "look beyond the traditional view" of providing social protection and include health care in the menu.
To date, KaSAPI is being implemented by at least 14 organized groups from vrious parts of the country. PhilHealth is jointly implementing the program with the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) which handles the production of marketing and other information materials such as posters, brochures and comics to assist microfinance agencies and PhilHealth Regional Offices in promoting the program.