Yes.

The PH Health Care System (Philhealth) has failed in giving universal health care to
Filipinos. As stated in Section 11 Article XIII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution The State
shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall
endeavor to make goods, health and other social services available to all the people at affordable
cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged sick, elderly, disabled, women,
and children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.
According to French Monk and physician Francois Rabelaris,Without health, life is not life; it is
unlivable . . . without health life spells but languor and the image of death.
In pursuant to Section 11 Article XIII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the Congress enacted
and adopted Republic Act No. 7875 known as National Health Insurance Act of 1995 or An
Instituting A National Health Insurance Program for All Filipinos And Establishing the
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation for the Purpose. Thus, the Philippine Health Care is
basically one of imbalance in favor of urban centers and misdistribution to the disadvantage of
the countryside.
Philippines constitutes the population for more than 100 million, about 70% of these are in need
for health insurance (based from the articles that I have read). Filipinos agreed that health is a
basic right guaranteed by the Constitution, but the problem is that it is not prioritized by our
government.
It is really evident that the Philippine Health Care is not universal in a sense because the problem
in distribution of the services between the urban and the countryside of the country is merely
imbalance. The urban areas of the country are experiencing full support of the Philhealth
program. But in the rural areas, most of the hospitals are not Philhealth accredited and the
tendency of that are higher bills for the people who need medical assistance.
Also, in the Metro Manila, the local government units are giving support to their local health
centers. Supplies are given and now within reach of the people in the city, but in the remote areas
of the country, where medical attentions are really needed, the health facilities are really lacking
in a sense. Many of the municipalities in the provinces are experiencing shortage in the
manpower of the medical field. It is because the doctors and the nurses are staying in the cities
since it is where they can practice their field with a high salary rates.
The Philhealth in a sense are only for the workers who are employed in the companies who are
required to have their employees to become members of the programs. The result of this,
automatically, part of their income will go the Philhealth funds as their contributions. It is god for
them since whenever they will medical attentions; it will be easier for them to get the benefits.
Otherwise, the farmers and other workers from the local areas should have to contribute
voluntarily for them to afford the benefits of the program.

This scenario only shows that Philhealth is in the side of the more privileged workers. But , it is
not logical since it should be the responsibility of the government to provide the universal health
care. The thing today is when you become a member of the Philheath is will be the only time
when you can afford the states assistance.
To sum it all, the Philippine universal health care is not effective since the situation as of the
moment only favors the more privileged people in the state and neglect the workers in the
outskirts of the society. As the saying goes People who have less in life should have more in
law but in the current time, it is not happening, the medical attentions are given to the more
important people in the society, but we are forgetting that the blue collared workers are the basis
of the growth of the economy since we are somehow a market economy. We sell products. And
the people who do the labor are getting less than the people who are doing the office works. And
basically the laborers are the ones who are more prone to illness and should be the priority of the
medical attentions.