User:Panda1600/Health care in the Philippines

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Universal Health Care (UHC) was signed into law by President Duterte as the Republic Act No. 11223. UHC automatically enrolls all Filipino citizens in the National Health Insurance Program and expands the existing Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) coverage to include free medical consultations and laboratory tests. UHC strives to have health providers available to every family in the Philippines to address their primary health needs. The goal of the UHC is to expand the health benefits package of previous PhilHealth including access to services in preventive, palliative, and rehabilitative medicine. Development of the bill was guided by the World Health Organization-Philippines who assisted by mediating public hearings and providing insight from successful implementations of UHC in other countries. UHC seeks to undo certain medical practices that were originally established during colonial times, namely the reliance on private healthcare and a weak system of public healthcare. However, certain problems faced by PhilHealth continue to go unaddressed under the new UHC system. For example, UHC does not address the disparity between rural and urban settings, and the fact that rural settings have fewer healthcare resources. Another problem is that funding decisions are often made by a single congressman/senator with a private interest in a particular medical issue. Finally, UHC only covers ‘accredited hospitals’ but many rural health stations find the process of becoming accredited difficult and therefore patient services from these stations do not qualify for coverage. Statistics showed that 8 out of 10 Filipinos have had no medical check-up or physical examination in their life even with the addition of UHC. Progress toward effective and equitable UHC needs not only strong political commitment but also a coherent strategy to ensure different aspects of health systems are synchronized with each other and address core performance challenges.

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Universal Health Care: 2019
Universal Health Care (Republic Act No. 11223) signed into law by President Duterte.