Senator ‘Win’ Gatchalian. (Photo from Tarlakenyo)
Aiming to strengthen the zero-balance billing program for equitability in hospital care, Senator Sherwin ‘Win’ Gatchalian has proposed to realign the government’s ₱49-billion medical assistance fund for indigent patients.
According to the Senate finance committee chair, health care access should not depend on politicians’ discretion even as he urged that part of the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) be redirected to expand the zero-balance billing program to make hospital care more equitable.
“It pains me to see some people, our constituents, queuing in the offices of politicians. We are putting the decision-making power on life and death in the hands of the politicians, which is not the right thing to do because the system should help our constituents,” Gatchalian enthused.
“We should put the MAIFIP in the zero-balance billing program. We should reform our Universal Healthcare to ensure access to quality health services for all Filipinos without financial hardship,” he added to maintain that the zero-balance billing program and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) should be enough to assist patients in public hospitals.
In ending, however, the senator emphasized the need to expand public hospitals’ bed capacity while warning that occupancy rates could rise further once the zero-balance billing program is fully implemented.