The government’s P49-billion medical assistance fund for indigent patients may be realigned to strengthen the zero-balance billing program, under a proposal by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who said health care access should not depend on politicians’ discretion.
Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, proposed that part of the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) be redirected to expand the zero-balance billing program to make hospital care more equitable.
‘It pains me to see some people, our constituents, queuing in the offices of politicians. We are putting the decision-making power on life and death in the hands of the politicians, which is not the right thing to do because the system should help our constituents,’ Gatchalian said.
‘We should put the MAIFIP in the zero-balance billing program. We should reform our Universal Healthcare to ensure access to quality health services for all Filipinos without financial hardship,’ he added.
The Senate finance panel chair maintained that the zero-balance billing program and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. should be enough to assist patients in public hospitals.
Gatchalian, however, emphasized the need to expand public hospitals’ bed capacity.
He warned that occupancy rates could rise further once the zero-balance billing program is fully implemented.