Mandatory PhilHealth for senior citizens signed into law

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has signed into law a bill providing mandatory Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) coverage to all senior citizens in the country, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said on Tuesday.

Republic Act (RA) 10645, signed by Aquino on November 5, amends the Expanded Seniors Act of 2010 or RA 9994. The amended law remove the limitation on the mandatory PhilHealth coverage of senior citizens, whether indigents or not.

"All senior citizens shall be covered by the national health insurance program of PhilHealth. Funds necessary to ensure the enrollment of all senior citizens not currently covered by any existing category shall be sourced from the National Health Insurance Fund of PhilHealth from proceeds of RA 10351, in accordance with the pertinent laws and regulations," the law states.

PhilHealth has 31.27 million registered members and 45.63 million dependents, as of December 2013.

Currently, there are approximately 6.1 million senior citizens, aged 60 years and above, in the country.

As of June 5 this year, there are only 3.9 million senior citizens, who are members of PhilHealth.

Recto, main author of the bill, said health insurance should cover all the senior citizens in the country, noting that enrollment should be automatic.

"Health insurance can never be called universal if it does not cover all seniors. Enrolling them must be automatic, not optional. The ideal is that the minute they blow out the candles on their 60th birthday cake to the moment they breathe their last, they should be PhilHealth members," Recto said.

Senator Teofisto Guingona III said some 2.16 million senior citizens have to get health insurance coverage to fill in the approximately 6.1 million senior citizens in the country.

Guingona said about P5.2-billion is needed to provide the remaining 2.16 million citizens with insurance.

Recto said PhilHealth;s P116 billion in reserves and P62 billion in income, as of December 31 last year, could more than afford to provide insurance to the senior citizens in the country.

He added that the National Government would provide funds to PhilHealth for the enrollment of the sponsored members, allocating P12.6 billion for 2013, P35.34 billion for 2014, and an estimated P37.06 billion for 2015.

"They only have to show their ID as a proof that they are senior citizens to be able to receive from the hospital the benefits given to PhilHealth members," Recto said. (Sunnex)