Duque refuses to promise moon and stars on Universal Health Care bill

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday refused to “promise the moon and stars” on the implementation of the Universal Health Care bill, which is expected to be approved before the year ends.

During the Senate hearing on the P74.1-billion proposed budget of the Department of Health (DOH) for 2019, Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked Duque if the department is ready to implement the bill seeking to guarantee all Filipinos equal access to quality and affordable health goods and services.

“Yes, sir, we are ready to implement it but this is a low budget bullet, this is not a panacea. It is  something that we cannot and we must not promise the moon and the stars,” Duque told the committee.

“The first year of implementation will show some kinks but as they say we have to learn from the lessons the gaps will present when the first year of implementation is made,” he added.

Duque said lack of funds would be one of the problems that they will face in implementing the bill when it is enacted into law.

"The only problematic area that I can see is lack of funding for year one. We need at least P257 billion to implement the UHC its first year. The absorptive capacity of DOH has to improve and we are working towards improving our absorptive capacity,” he said.

The Health secretary also said they need to tweak, expand, level up, and do gap assessment to see where the weaknesses are.

“And right now we already can see the difficulty in implementing this in the rural, geographically isolated, disadvantaged areas as well as in rural non-geographically isolated, disadvantaged areas,” said Duque.

However, Sotto, in an interview at the sidelines of the hearing, said there are enough funds to finance the implementation of the Universal Health Care bill.

“There is a budget already and there will be budget allocated for the Universal Health Care. With or without (passage of) sin tax bill, there is enough in the budget of the DOH to handle it,” he said.

In October, the Senate passed the Universal Health Care bill on third and final reading and it is now pending at the bicameral conference committee for the reconciliation of disagreeing provisions with the version of the House of Representatives.

Under the bill, all Filipino citizens will automatically be enrolled into the National Health Insurance Program either as direct contributor (those who have the capacity to pay premiums) or indirect contributor (those sponsored by the government such as indigents and senior citizens).

The bill also seeks to expand the PhilHealth coverage to include free consultation fees, laboratory tests and other diagnostic services.

Under the bill, Filipino residents can avail of primary health care services even without the PhilHealth identification cards.

Those not enrolled in the PhilHealth once the measure becomes a law could still avail of the health care services since the premium subsidy will be gradually adjusted and included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

The bill also calls for the improvement of doctor-to-patient ratio, the upgrading of hospital bed capacities and equipment, and the establishment of hospitals in remote areas. —KG, GMA News