Health Insurance Assured for 3,640 Poor Families in LeyteDecember 9, 2011

REP. Lucy Marie Torres-Gomez (4th District, Leyte) recently sponsored the enrolment of 3,640 indigent families from her district into the Sponsored Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and earmarked P2 million for the premium contributions of the enrolled families.

In a simple ceremony held recently at the PhilHealth Head Office in Pasig City, Gomez and PhilHealth President and CEO Dr. Eduardo P. Banzon signed a Memorandum of Agreement to formalize the partnership. Leyte Vice Governor Ma. Mimieta S. Bagulaya also signed the MOA.

On hand to witness the event were PhilHealth's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Atty. Alexander A. Padilla, Officer-in-charge - Vice President for Member Management Group Walter R. Bacareza, PhilHealth Regional Office II Vice President Oscar B. Abadu, Jr., PhilHealth Regional Office VIII Officer-in-charge, Vice President Atty. Jerry F. Ibay, and Ormoc Service Office Chief, Maria Cristina A. Laraya. Gomez' Chief-of-Staff and husband Richard also came as witness.

In forging ties with PhilHealth, Gomez said that she wants to make health services more efficient in the province, and that "as a neophyte member of the Congress, I concentrated in three priorities, which are health, education and infrastructure." She further said that health is really a primary concern and that she always views it from the perspective of the people who live on a "hand-to-mouth" existence.

She added that she is thinking of how they can put up more birthing clinics, citing that in the district which she represents, especially in the mountain barangays, there are many midwives or kumadronas and she believes "that no woman should die at childbirth."

Gomez allocated P2 million from her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to assist the Local Government Units in their counterpart premium contribution to the program. PhilHealth will shoulder the national counterpart premiums for the identified beneficiaries.

The beneficiary families of Gomez' initiative are not among those listed in the National Household Targeting System (NHTS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The 4th district covers the City of Ormoc and the municipalities of Albuera, Isabel, Kananga, Matag-ob, Merida and Palompon, with an estimated combined population of 398,908 based on 2007 figures. (Documentation by Amelita L. Buted, OIC-Division Chief; Jonathan M. Yao, PRO I; and Juanito G. Pineda, PR Assistant, PAD)