Pangasinan tops in health insurance in Region I
THE province of Pangasinan has one more thing to crow about, aside from being Best Local Government Unit under the Regional Project Monitoring System (RPMS).
Records of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) show that Pangasinan tops three other Ilocos provinces of the region in the number of indigent families enrolled under the Philippine Health Insurance Program.
However, Dr. Douglas Cardona, PhilHealth regional director, said in a news conference before New Year, that Pangasinan used to have the highest enrolment in PhilHealth nationwide its 140,000 enrolment in PhilHealth until Cebu reached the 200,000 mark only two months ago.
Cardona credited Governor Amado Espino Jr.’s aggressive pro-poor program for the increased enrolment of indigents with PhilHealth during the past few months.
The annual premiums for the indigents covered under PhilHealth’s Sponsored Program were either bank rolled by Local Government Units (LGUs), congressmen using their Countrywide Development Assistance Fund (CDAF), of municipal and city mayors.
Rep. Arthur Celeste of the first district; Rep. Victor Agbayani of the second district and Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. of the fourth district.
Rep. Rachel Arenas of the third district is also set to sponsor the premiums of indigent families in her own district.
Cardona said more enrollees are expected soon as Governor Espino plans to implement a universal coverage for all indigents in Pangasinan.
The city governments of Dagupan, Urdaneta and Alaminos are also sponsoring indigent families.
Cardona cited Dagupan as the first local government throughout the country to use its fund to enroll indigents to PhilHealth in the early 1990s.
Dagupan’s example was copied by several other LGUs in the Philippines. –LM
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