PhilHealth releases P12.3 B for coronavirus response – Duterte
Around P12.3 billion has been released by Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to accredited hospitals to boost their response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Duterte said in his latest weekly report to Congress.
Among the recipients of the PhilHealth support are the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, UP-Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila, Davao Regional Medical Center in Tagum City, and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
“The PhilHealth has released P12.321 billion to 494 PhillHealth-accredited Health Care
Institutions through its Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) as of 6 May 2020,” the President said.
Duterte said PhilHealth has also paid 3,609,858 PhilHealth claims amounting to P35,356,559,369.46 with check payment dates from January 1 to May 6.
The President’s report to Congress included the list of hospitals that received PhilHealth funds as of May 6.
The 10 hospitals with the biggest PhilHealth allocation are the Southern Medical Philippines Medical Center, P326 million; UP-PGH, P263.3 million; Davao Regional Medical Center in Tagum City, P209 million; Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, P204 million; Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital, San Fernando City Pampanga, P201 million.
Also included in the list are National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City, P179 million; Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Baguio City, P164 million; Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City, P150.2 million; Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, P150 million; and, Eastern Visayas Regional Center in Tacloban City, P146.2 million.
Coronavirus package
PhilHealth had earlier vowed to cover the treatment costs of coronavirus patients through its new case rate packages starting April 15.
The care benefit package for coronavirus patients will be as follows: mild pneumonia for P43,997; moderate pneumonia for P143,267; severe pneumonia for P333,519; and critical pneumonia for P786,384.
The state health insurance firm also committed to subsidize coronavirus tests ranging between P2,710 to P8,150.
As part of an agreement with the Philippine Red Cross, the President said PhilHealth has released P100 million as interim financing for coronavirus testing services.
Healthcare capacity
The government meantime continued to scale up facilities and resources for the health sector and other frontliners.
As of May 7, the President said the Department of Health has approved 3,042 slots of emergency hiring in 56 health facilities such as hospitals and quarantine facilities. Of the 3,084 slots, 968 health workers have been hired.
The country so far has 1,721 COVID-19 referral and accepting hospitals around the country, with 23 designated DOH COVID-referral hospitals.
There are 12,340 dedicated beds for COVID-19 with an average of 40.77 percent occupancy rate. The total number of mechanical ventilators has reached 1,937, of which 77.7 percent are available.
As of May 8, the government has started to use 71 out of the 117 converted evacuation centers as temporary health facilities, emergency operation centers, and food hubs.
To date, the Department of Education has approved the use of 2,110 school facilities for COVID-related concerns.
As of May 6, Duterte said the Bureau of Quarantine is manning a total of 73 quarantine facilities, including 58 hotels or facilities and 15 cruise ships, covering 10,210 repatriates.
Duterte also said that a total of 139,379 tests have been conducted on 131,786 persons as of May 6. From May 2 to May 6, an average of 5,863 tests were conducted daily.
From May 1 to May 7, he said the Philippine Coast Guard has administered rapid tests on 6,911 repatriated Filipino workers at the Manila airports and sea ports. Since April 23, around 14,430 have been tested through this activity.
PCG also conducted rapid tests on 8,029 overseas Filipino workers quarantined in hotels, 1,936 OFWs in cruise ships, and 180 government personnel.
As of May 7, he said Stay Safe tracking website has obtained 530,000 registered users. The Dethe
partment of Information and Communications Technology is reviewing its interoperability with other coronavirus-related systems.
Around 35 provinces and 24 municipalities and cities are using FASSSTER, a web-based disease surveillance platform, or undergoing training for its users, according to the President.
He said the Department of Budget and Management has also released funds for the procurement of 1,500 units of mechanical ventilators to the Department of Health.
A total of 211,205 personal protective equipment sets procured by DBM have been distributed to various health facilities.
Cash assistance
Duterte also said P3.013 billion was given to 602,722 employees under the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE’s) COVID19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) for Affected Formal Workers.
A total of 73,352 overseas Filipino workers have benefited from DOLE’s CAMP Abot-Kamay and Pagtulong (AKAP) for Displaced OFWs. To date, DOLE has utilized P750 million of the P1.5 billion allotted for this program.
DOLE also distributed P1.135 billion for its Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) for 299,156 informal workers.
Emergency cash aid
The President reported that as of last Friday (May 8), almost 14.3 million families have already received the emergency cash aid from the government.
However, as of Monday (May 11), the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) updated data showed that 15.87 million beneficiaries or 88.16 percent of the 18 million low-income families targeted to receive the emergency subsidy under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) have received their cash aid from the first tranche.
Aid for 4Ps
The President also reported that as of May 8, the DSWD, under its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis
(AICS) Program, has distributed cash assistance to 3,921,378 members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), 10,292,310 non-4Ps members, and 40,418 drivers of transport network vehicle service (TNVS) and public utility vehicles (PUVs) in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Duterte added that the next set of payouts for the TNVS and PUVs in NCR will be released this week. The list of the driver beneficiaries will be updated for verification by the local chief executives.
Rice farmers
Duterte also reported that 415,000 rice farmers received cash aid from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA’s) Financial Subsidy for Rice Farmers (FRSF) program as of May 5. Some P2.956 billion has been transferred to government financial institutions.
Small business
President Duterte’s report stated that the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program was more efficient in distributing cash aid to formal workers using the records and systems of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Social Security System (SSS). As of May 6, P10.1 billion in cash grants has been released by the SSS to 1,261,044 SBWS beneficiaries. More than 101,400 have submitted applications and around 2.2 million employees have been approved as of May 7.
Cultural workers
Meanwhile, around 27 tour guides
and horse-drawn carriage (kalesa) drivers accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT) have qualified for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Assistance Program for Artists and Cultural Workers under the State of Calamity.
The program provides a one-time P5,000 cash aid to displaced cultural workers affected by the pandemic.
The Nayong Pilipino Foundation’s Damayan sa Nayon project similarly provides a short-term amelioration program for its stakeholders.
Educational assistance
With P3 billion in funds, the Land Bank of the Philippines recently launched its ACADEME (Access to Academic Development to Empower the Masses toward Endless opportunities) lending program to assist private schools, universities, colleges, and technical-vocational and education training institutes with a fixed 3-percent rate interest for the entire term of the loan.
Last week, Duterte reported that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has processed the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) of 120,798 grantees enrolled in private higher educational institutions amounting to P3.6 billion. The TES amounting to P480 million for 33 state universities and colleges (SUCs) and 18 local universities and colleges (LUCs) have been processed for release. (With a report from Argyll B. Geducos)