PhilHealth has over P500 billion in reserve funds, enough to cover operations for the next three years.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto is simply opting for the judicious use of state money when he ordered the transfer of P90 billion worth of excess funds from Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the Bureau of Treasury (Btr).
Those funds can be re-directed to finance infrastructure projects, social welfare and educational services, mass housing and irrigation―instead of the national government raising the equivalent amount from borrowings that only increase our national debt and burden future generations.
The P90-billion funds are over and above what is needed by PhilHealth in its reserves in order to cover the benefits of its members, not just this year but for several years. PhilHealth has over P500 billion in reserve funds, enough to cover operations for the next three years.
Even after remitting P90 billion in national government subsidy to the Treasury, PhilHealth’s financial standing will remain remain strong. It will be able to use P500 billion for new and expanded PhilHealth benefits.
For the record, the excess funds will not harm PhilHealth nor its members. The health insurer, in fact, is set to enhance and expand the services that it extends to millions of Filipinos.
It is rolling out a series of new and improved benefits that will significantly impact the health of its members. For one, the number of generic drugs available for outpatient treatments will more than double, increasing from 21 to 53. These include crucial medications for common maladies, like hypertension, nerve pain and epileptic seizures.
As fund manager, PhilHealth has well calculated its expenses or outlays against the cash in hand. It is set to almost double the benefits for those suffering from strokes and pneumonia, offering coverage of up to P76,000. These are common yet potentially fatal illnesses, and this increased support will undoubtedly provide much-needed relief to many Filipino families.
PhilHealth also raised the coverage limit for breast cancer treatments by nearly 1,000 percent from ₱100,000 to ₱1.4 million. For those suffering from the illness, the higher amount is timely and life-saving. We have heard of families going bankrupt due the prohibitive costs of cancer care.
By year’s end, PhilHealth will include chemotherapy for lung, liver, ovarian and prostate cancers in its coverage, further expanding its support for those battling these life-threatening diseases.
PhilHealth is prudent enough on the coverage of health care services, knowing fully well that it will continue to get infusions of capital from the government.
And in the matter of excess funds, PhilHealth is merely practicing charity. Those funds will eventually benefit other state corporations and finance their mandate of improving the lives of our countrymen.
Stinking problem
The failed policies in past urban planning may repeat itself in New Clark City, which is being developed into a green and smart metropolis.
The planned new metropolis seeks to position itself as a premier industrial hub that can attract local and foreign investors. But with the impending closure of the Kalangitan Engineered Sanitary Landfill in Capas, Tarlac on October 5 this year, one can imagine mounting garbage hills that will smear the landscape of the new city.
Garbage, when not managed efficiently, leads to urban blight. It requires a whole-of-nation effort to deal with trash, including proper waste management led by the government and the personal discipline of every Filipino.
But the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Clark Development Corp. (CDC) are not doing their share when they announced the closure of the Kalangitan Landfill, which is administered by Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWM).
The deal, signed by WCWM, the BCDA and CDC, will not expire until 2049, however. The WCWM management, thus, was surprised when the BCDA and CDC informed them about the termination of the contract by October.
The Kalangitan landfill is a critical facility for waste management in Luzon. It serves as the garbage dump for about 3,000 tons of waste every day, including trash from 150 local government units (LGUs) and over 1,000 industrial clients across Central Luzon, Pangasinan, Metro Manila and the Cordilleras, including Baguio City.
These LGUs and industrial companies will be at a loss on how and where to dump their trash. This will surely lead to a garbage crisis.
There are supposedly alternative sites in Porac and Floridablanca in Pampanga, but environmental experts say they are too small and inaccessible. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources should intervene in this garbage impasse.
The garbage problem is being blamed for the recent flooding in Metro Manila and some provinces in Luzon in the wake of the monsoon rains spawned by Typhoon Carina last month. Trash found its way in many waterways, clogging tributaries and leading to the inundation of the capital region.
The same may happen in Clark and the rest of Central Luzon, if no workable dump sites take the place of the Kalangitan landfill.
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