PhilHealth eyes coverage of prescription eyeglasses by Dec. 2024

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is planning to cover expenses for prescription eyeglasses before the year ends, Vonne Aquino reported Thursday on "State of the Nation."

Cooleen Garcia, 31, is near-sighted and has astigmatism. She spent P4,000 on her prescription glasses, a big chunk of her budget, supposedly spent on her child.

Meanwhile, her co-worker Jayson Umali is experiencing a blurring of vision. Since he has no budget, he uses eyeglasses that are not prescribed by a doctor.

“We are studying right now on the inclusion of prescription glasses in response to the request and clamor of our members and lawmakers,” said Dr. Israel Francis Pargas, PhilHealth senior vice president for health finance policy.

“And hopefully, before the year, ends ay maipalabas natin ang polisiya rito (We will be able to release the new policy),” he added.

“Kung single mom ako, syempre pinag-ipunan ko muna bago ako makapagpagawa ng salamin. So kung may ganyan sila programa, mas maganda,” Garcia said.

(If I’m a single mom, of course, I have to save up money to afford getting eyeglasses. So it’s good if they have a program like that.)

“Nakakatulong siya lalo na kung libre (The program will help those who need eyeglasses especially since it is free.),” Umali said.

Based on a study by the World Health Organization, 50% of the world’s population would be near-sighted by 2050.

Based on the 2018 Philippine Eye Disease Study, 1.98% of the Philippine population has visual impairment while two million are partially blind.

The Integrated Philipines Associate of Optometrists (IPAO) will help PhilHealth in creating the guidelines for the package.

“Mas makakatipid tayo, lalong lao na yung PhilHealth, kung na pre-prevent yung mga disease by providing services that would prevent blindness,” said IPAO chairperson Charlie Ho.

(We can save more, especially PhilHealth, if we prevent diseases by providing services that would prevent blindness.)

Minors, especially students, would be prioritized in phase one of the PhilHealth package.

Ho said whether a child is near-sighted or far-sighted, the condition affects their academic performance.

Before the year ends, PhilHeath also aims to include dental services in its packages, including dental hygiene, flourification, and cleaning. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/LDF, GMA Integrated News