I THE

wEDNEsoAY I ocroBER l6,2ot9 I n

Exp an de d he alth c ar e laalcs

Pgs B in 2o2o
By JESS DIAZ

health
- DoH
DOII said P104 billion will be needed
to cover all Filipinos with free health
insurance, whiie onlv P67.35 billion
The universal or exPanded
care (UHC) prosram, which aims to pro- will be provided in the proposed na-
vide all fiiiirin6s with free basic health tional bidget for next year, or a deficit
of P36.53 billion.
services staiting January next year, lacks
almost P95 billion on its first year in For health Iacilities, P23.5 billion will be
2020, according to the DePartment of needed while the amount aPproPriated in
Health (DoH). the budeet is onlv P5.9 billion.
por h-ealth car6 workets, the UHC will
Anew report that the DOH has submit-
ted to the Fiouse of Representatives indi- requirc P50.73billion in2020. Only P38.61
cated that total availablb funds next year biliion is allocated, or a shortfall of more
from all official sources would amount thanPl2billion. r

onlv to P162.26 billion as against the fund- Lawmakers had earlier assured in-
ing- requirement of P257,54 billion, or a tended beneficiaries that they would give
deficit of P94.92 billion the program enough funds.
Of the P162.25 billion, P88.26 billion Queion Rep. Arigelina Tary who chairs
willcome from DOH and is alloclated in the House committee on health and an
the proposed P4.1-trillion 2020 national author of the UHC law, said she is helping
budget. the DOH seek additional funds, particu-
Ai additional P7 billion is allotted in larlv for health care personnel.
the proposed budget for health person- 'iwe have bsked'the DePartment of
nel deolovment ind P67.35 billion for Brtdset and Manaqement how we can
the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. man"age the expeciatiott of our people
(PhilHealth). if the iumber 6f employees will be de-
PhilHealth said its P67.3s-billion bud- crease4" Tan said.
getary subsidy ne,tt year would be t'ood With the sisnine. of LrHC law's IRR, the
onlv for 31 million beneficiaries. Commission 5n H"uman Rights vesterday
dome P17.5 billion is to be contributed expressed hope that more funding willbe
bv the Philipoine Amusement and Gam- allbcated to ensurc higher coverage for
iris Corp. (t'agcor) and P2.8 billion by the Filipinos. - With Janvic Mateo
rliitippine CYrarity Sweepstakes Offi ce
(PCSO).
The Pagcor contribution is half of the
^ Pnge -y'
national govemmenfls share of Pagcor's
eamings.
The-Department of Finance had earlier
estimated UHC's funding shortfall at P62
billion.
"If we consider only the total resources
available in the 2020 national budget
(P152.26 billion), the tunding gap is P94.92
billion. If we include the Pagcor and PCSO
contributions, the gap is down to P74 bil-
lion"" the DOH sqid in its rePort'
Ii added that the Problem with the
expected augmentations from Pagcor and
tha PcSo is that the monev is "not ear-
marked for health but part oi the (national
sovemment's) qeneral fund."
" on PhilHeaith premiums alone, the
,.".