Marcos OKs creation of coordinating council for Universal Health Care law

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has approved the creation of a coordinating council for the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law, Health Secretary Teodoro "Ted" Herbosa said Tuesday.

"The President approved the Department of Health’s proposal of creating a Universal Health Care Coordinating Council through an executive order. So, we would be crafting and drafting this," Herbosa said at a Palace press briefing.

According to Herbosa, the council will serve as a venue to discuss relevant concerns that might be raised during the implementation of the UHC law.

"We will standardize the health policies. The council will serve as a national governance body that will oversee the implementation of Universal Health Care Act nationwide, the project and estimate total national cost for UHC and also implementation of the Universal Health Care at local government level," he said.

Herbosa said the council would be composed of concerned government agencies, including the Department of Health as the council chair, the Department of the Interior and Local Government as co-chair, and other agencies like Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Professional Regulation Commission, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

When he assumed post as DOH Secretary, Herbosa made a commitment to continuously usher UHC through interventions and reforms.

Meanwhile, the DOH chief also said Marcos has tasked the DILG to expedite the review of Executive Order 138 on the implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia petitions and to incorporate some of these to the UHC financing reforms in the amendments. —KG, GMA Integrated News