A recent study by the Center for Legislative Development and the Health Policy Network finds the Philippine health care system seriously underfunded and characterized by acute inequities that leavethe poor without reliable access to the health care system. 

Despite recent policy moves that seek to address such inequities, the poor remain vulnerable and questions remain whether they will be actually benefited with increased access or merely reinforce the access of those who already enjoy them. 

Over 15 years since Congress passed the National Health Insurance Act of 1995, inequities pervade notwithstanding the over all improvement in health outcomes.  The Act established the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) and created the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) as its financing vehicle with a clear constitutional mandate that “the State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavour to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at affordable costs.” 

The NHIP has set2015 as goal for providing coverage for all Filipinos as mandated by the law.  Just a few more years before its goal,studies suggest that a vast majority of Filipinos still remain inadequately covered by the national health insurance program. 

The CLD-HPN study is available at CLD's website: http: cld.org

        

As a paramount national concern, access to health care has mobilized policy makers and stakeholders to consider urgent steps to bridge the glaring gap between access to health care by the poor and the rich.  But access is just one of the indicators of health care inequities that policy makers must address now.
 
Depending on one's ability to pay, Filipino patients may enjoy the best state-of-the-art care that is comparable to the best there is in highly advanced countries.  But a much larger portion of the population has to do with improvised health care technology like the fabled makeshift incubators used by cash-strapped health care facilities in remote health care facilities.
 
How do we ensure that policy initiatives address health care inequities rather than perpetuate them?  How do we distinguish policies that were pushed in the name of the poor but does very little for them?
 
To explore these issues, we would like to invite you to a policy discussion on "Quality issues in delivery of health care services:  A Policy perspective on May 27, 2009, Wednesday, 9 am to 11 am at the AIM Conference Center, Benavidez corner Trasierra Streets Legazpi Village Makati City.
 
 
To reserve a seat for the forum, please call Netsky at 750-1010 local 2072 or email us at healthpolicy@cld.org.

        

On March 19, the Center for Legislative Development International (CLD) and the Health Policy Network will hold another roundtable discussion aimed exclusively for media professionals to discuss policy options to soften impact of the global financial crisis on the health sector. Without much fanfare, the global economic crisis landed on our shores when the first batch of displaced Filipino overseas workers in Taiwan returned jobless. This was immediately followed with the closure of Intel processor company and the last flight of FedEx from Subic a few weeks ago. << MORE >>

New public policies seeking to lighten the financing burden on the poor are great signs for broader access to health care. But such thrust must go beyond prices. CLD's new study point out that health care will remain beyond the reach of the poor despite the projected price reductions simply because of their extremely weak purchasing power.<< MORE >>

CLD, through its Health Policy Network project will launch its first Kapihan Para sa Kalusugan, a media forum to tackle policy issues of the day. The first Kapihan will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 from 9 am to 11 am at the Duet's Bistro, located on the 5th Fl of the AIM Conference Center, Benavidez corner Trasierra Streets, Legazpi Village Makati City<< MORE >>

To help sustain the momentum on health care reform, the Center for Legislative Development (CLD) initiated the Health Policy Network (HPN) as a forum in further exploring options to enhance access and delivery of quality health care to Filipinos, especially the marginalized poor. << MORE >>