A REFLECTION OF PHILHEALTH'S 25 ENDURING YEARS IN SERVICE
The Philippines’ long and arduous journey towards achieving Universal Health Care or UHC reached a significant milestone when Republic Act 11223, otherwise known as the Universal Health Care Act of 2019, was signed into law by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 20 February 2019. The UHC’s overarching objective is to provide all Filipinos with equitable access to quality and cost effective health care services without causing financial hardship.
The UHC Act by far provides the most comprehensive policy as well as the enabling environment for such a vision to happen in a progressive manner. The last
50 years had been marked by various attempts to achieve such a profound and collective aspiration for the health of the Filipino, especially of the underprivileged and the marginalized.
It all started in the 1960s when a group of doctors introduced the MARIA (Medical Aid to Rural Indigents Areas) Project, considered the precursor of the Medical Care Plan that was created through RA 6111 in 1969. A quarter of a century hence, the National Health Insurance Program under the administration of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) was created through RA
7875 on 14 February 1995.
The NHIP signaled an era that upheld financial protection for all Filipinos so that everyone can access needed health care services that are available, accessible, adequate and acceptable.
The rest is history.
As we mark PhilHealth’s 25 years of enduring service to the Filipino, we invite the nation of 108 million to look back, reflect and celebrate important milestones in the last 25 years that nurtured PhilHealth to what it is today… Pinatatag na Segurong Pangkalusugan sa Bawat Filipino!
Come together: Consolidation of the Medicare programs
A couple of years after PhilHealth took the reins from the former Philippine Medical Care Commission, it assumed administration from and started with the consolidation of separate health insurance programs of the Government Service Insurance System in 1997, Social Security System in 1999, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in 2005 into one National Health Insurance Program. The historic integration led to the unification and subsequent increase in benefit levels as well.
The First Amendment: Republic Act 9241
Signed on 10 February 2004, this law revises pertinent provisions of RA 7875 which resulted to the merging of OWWA Medicare with the NHIP, enhancement of members’ benefits,