Davao City hosts 5th public consultation on UHC-IRR

DAVAO CITY - At least 300 participants from three Mindanao regions have joined the 5^th public consultation for the finalization of Universal Health Care (UHC) Law’s Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) here over the weekend.

They are health providers and health stakeholders from the Caraga, Soccsksargen and Davao regions.

UHC was signed into in February but its full implementation starts once the IRR is completed.

Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) president and chief executive officer ret. Army Gen. Ricardo Morales said: “If we cannot perfect it by now, the most important is we are on the right bus taking us to the same direction.”

After the last series of its public consultation to be held in Cagayan de Oro City in the last week of July, Dr. Abdullah B. Dumama, Department of Health (DOH) Assistant Secretary (ASEC) for Visayas and Mindanao, said he hopes to come up with an IRR better version.

Various issues and concerns affecting population coverage, service delivery and financial matters were taken up.

For example, provision of drugs and devices based on the standard DOH mark-up was suggested to be incorporated in the law.

Dr. Arvin Alejandro, Sarangani Provincial Hospital Officer, has recommended to adopt the same for local government units (LGUs) to use as its prize reference index in procuring said items.

Part of the service expansion delivery is the inclusion of implants and additional benefits for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission, maintenance drugs and oxygen.

“PhilHealth shall come up with this in particular,” Dr. Israel Francis A. Pargas, PhilHealth senior manager for health care finance policy, said.

In the new law, PhilHealth and DOH regulating policies are already harmonized.

Networking-contracting condition among health care providers shall be taken charge by PhilHealth and the structures shall be granted by DOH.

Mobile and floating hospitals shall now be classified among stand alone facilities like dialysis centers.

There shall be an adoption of global financing on a capitation based and provision of budget shall be in accordance with the health plan that must be submitted by participating network providers.

Request for additional funding can be justified depending on the health care needs subject to the approval of the financing body.

“There will be set of indicators on how much money shall be utilized. PhilHealth will have its surveillance and monitoring system,” Pargas stressed.

Disbursement of the health fund shall be more on preventive service than curative and transparent distribution of such shall be posted on PhilHealth’s official website.

Fund for said services from PhilHealth that will serve as an income for the local government units must have its local ordinance.

Distribution of PhilHealth sharing shall have its specific guidelines to be done by committees involved in the network.

As suggested facility network may come up with their joint venture or have their own corporate model with SEC oversight.

DOH Usec. Mario Villaverde said facility network may build an economic enterprise, create foundation, have their trustee or come up with a cooperative because right now there is no concrete model due to the geographical set up of the country.

“While some are landlocked, some are island cities, some are provinces,” Villaverde.

DOH shall provide technical support including the package to capacitate personnel to those who commit to implement.

To provide wider service delivery especially among geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs), scholarship programs for medical coursed shall be continually opened for indigenous people.

“If they interested, they are encouraged to visit the nearest DOH offices for inquiries,” Dumama said. (HGN)