News
PhilHealth President Guests on "The Morning Show" -
August 7, 2007
Acting PhilHealth President and CEO Lorna O. Fajardo (middle) today guested on "The Morning Show" on NBN-4 with hosts Bobby Guanzon (right) and Veronica Baluyot. In the media interview, Fajardo stressed that the P3.5B allocation for PhilHealth in the 2008 national budget represents the National Government's counterpart in the annual health insurance premium of indigent families being enrolled into PhilHealth coverage. "It is the LGUs that initiate the enrolment of needy families into our program," she said.
Fajardo explains that the P1,200 annual premium per enrolled family already covers the principal member and all other qualified legal dependents. She added that the coverage includes allowances for hospital room and board fees, drugs and medicines, even allowances for the use of the operating room complex.
Fajardo emphasizes that the PhilHealth benefit package excludes all other hospitalization benefits that both the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) provide its members.
Baluyot asks about the premium-sharing scheme between the LGUs and the National Government and whether or not the recipients of the PhilHealth Cards are pre-determined. "The list of recipients (under the Sponsored Program) is determined by the local DSWD," Fajardo clarifies.
Baluyot, Fajardo and Guanzon share a light moment before the show closed with a call for those who are not yet covered by PhilHealth to enroll now under any of the five (5) major programs available. (Photos by Nitto G. Pineda, CorComm)