AT least 14,900 victims of typhoons Yolanda and Ruby in five (5) regions will be given social health insurance coverage soon.

Through a grant agreement between the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the typhoon victims will be provided with a three-month PhilHealth coverage under the ILO’s Sustainable Livelihood Recovery Program. Total worth of coverage is Php9,208,200.00.

The chosen beneficiaries will come from Coron, Palawan in Region 4B, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Albay in Region 5, Negros Occidental in Region 6, North Cebu and Bohol in Region 7 and Ormoc, Samar, and Tacloban in Region 8.

“I would like to acknowledge the ILO as one of the organizations that immediately responded to the calamity brought about by Typhoon Yolanda and facilitated the health insurance coverage of emergency workers and their families that were severely affected by the typhoon,” said Alexander A. Padilla, PhilHealth President and CEO.

The enrolled beneficiaries shall be enlisted under the Sponsored Program and will be entitled to PhilHealth’s full range of benefits including inpatient benefits, special benefit packages, primary care, and the Z benefits, and to the “No Balance Billing” policy for confinements in government hospitals.

ILO Country Director Lawrence Jeff Johnson said that “guaranteeing social protection, which includes PhilHealth coverage, prevents people from falling into poverty especially in times of illness and emergency.”

The PhilHealth-ILO partnership started last year with 5,162 typhoon victims being provided with PhilHealth coverage under the Cash for Work Program. The initial ILO grant amounted to Php3, 097, 320.74. (Faudia H. Subillaga)