DSWD expands ‘Lingap’ free medicines program coverage

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has issued the amended guidelines for the expansion of coverage of the government’s R1billion free medicine program for the poor.

As part of the expansion, the program has been renamed “Lingap at Gabay Para sa May Sakit” or LinGaP sa Masa.

With the amended guidelines, medical needs like prosthetics, assistive devices, laboratory procedures are now included among the assistance, which can be provided through the program.

Likewise, the services of LinGaP sa Masa can now be accessed by family members of contract of service workers and regular government workers.

The new policy also allows the Department to include other district/provincial/regional government hospitals to partner with DSWD for the implementation of the program. More accessible

DSWD Assistant Secretary Aleli Bawagan said the amendments were made to make the program more accessible to clients in need.

“During the implementation phase, the Department noted that the original guidelines limited the assistance to free medicines. We immediately saw that many indigent patients needed not only medicines, but also assistive devices,” she said.

“This is particularly true in the case of persons with disabilities (PWDs). Many impoverished Filipinos also need funds for laboratory costs which are often out of their financial reach or outright exorbitant,” Bawagan added.

Laboratory procedures are also now included in the guidelines and poor families can access funds for them through LinGap sa Masa.

With the amendments, the DSWD expects that more Filipinos will be able to access the program and benefit from it. The numbers

As of September 29, a total of 27,735 indigent clients have benefitted from the program. The amount utilized has reached

R256,429,055.72, which is 25.64 percent of the total available funds. Partner hospitals

These figures are based on the reports of fund utilization from the original partner government hospitals, such as the Philippine General Hospital in Metro Manila; Jose B. Lingad Memorial Hospital in San Fernando City, Pampanga; Western Visayas Medical

Center in Iloilo City; Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City; Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City; and Davao Regional Hospital in Tagum City.

DSWD expects a higher turn-out of patients in the coming months as the Department signed a memorandum of agreement for the program implementation with five more public hospitals in Metro Manila, namely Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital, East Avenue Medical Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Children’s Hospital, and San Lazaro Hospital. Requirements

Those who want to avail of the program should provide a valid identification (ID) card.

If the patient has a representative, the latter should present a valid ID and a written authorization signed by the patient.

Proof of indigency must also be presented, but documentary requirement showing proof is not limited to a barangay certificate or certification issued by the medical social service.

Certified true copies must be certified by either the DSWD social worker assigned to the hospital, the office that issued the document or the officer who signed the document.

Another important requirement is the doctor’s prescription, which should have been issued in the past three months. This should indicate the date, the name of the patient, and signature of the attending physician, with his/her license number and contact details.