PCSO vows to further improve delivery of health services
THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Of - -
CAD Manager Muriel Pajarillo said the charity agency has now taken the necessary steps for its
- tance Program (IMAP) to accommodate the increasing number of patients and deal with the increased cost of medical services.
“Although we provide assistance to all who seek aid from the agency, they should understand that the role of PCSO is to augment their funds. Our purpose is for augmentation only,” Pajarillo said.
PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said they will be opening more branches soon for easier access to PCSO services in order to cope with the continuing surge of individuals seeking assistance from the agency.
“We will continue to be true to our mandate to help more Filipinos nationwide. PCSO will bring the government closer to you, our beloved countrymen,” Balutan said.
Striking a balance
Pajarillo said that many indigent medical assistance had to sustain a cut in the aid they got from the agency last year after the program had already exceeded its medical assistance funds.
“We have an average of 700 patients a day who come here daily so we had to adjust the rate, thus reducing the amount we can give to patients. But the number of patients assisted also increased,” Pajarillo explained.
Based on the CAD’s data, there were 528,190 patients who ben- “We are often asked why we reduced the amount we were giving them when we continue to generate high revenues but they forget that we are not limited to IMAP. We also give ambulances, medical equipment, medicine, milk feeding and extend assistance during calamities, among others,” Pajarillo said.
For instance, the PCSO has approved 53 government hospitals for endowment funds, 36 of which CAD Manager Muriel Pajarillo
are now operational and receive funds from the agency.
In addition, 62 government hospitals have also been approved to have At-Source-Ang-Processing (ASAP) desks and 33 of them are now operational nationwide.
Moreover, the PCSO now has 67 branches nationwide from 56 in 2016 and this has brought a new stream of patients who also urgently need the help of the agency.
“To all our beneficiaries, we need your patience. We are doing our best to serve you, but as a government entity, we also have limitations,” Pajarillo said.
Some drugs not available
She said the needs of more patients have presented a daily challenge in providing medicine as some of it were not yet available.
“Unknown to the public, we have a process to enroll medicine so that we don’t have to pay too much since we are a charity agency. We asked for a 25-percent discount and our suppliers have been gracious enough to grant us that,” she said.
Under the medicine provision of the IMAP, there at least a required reduction of the retail cost by as high as 25 percent.
But the contracts the PCSO signed with various suppliers expired last December 31 and that prevented some patients from getting the medicine they need, particularly cancer patients.
“Happily, we now have new contracts that were approved by our board, so we’re now resuming our operations,” Pajarillo said, adding that the agency has 184 medicines that are available at the agency but some drugs are still not available.
“They just have to wait for a little while. We still accept their papers and advice them to return when the medicine they need are already available,” Pajarillo said, adding that they are working on the problem that is affecting cancer patients.
An ongoing challenge
Meanwhile, Pajarillo said the PCSO only has two years to fully transfer the entire IMAP to PhilHealth in accordance with the recently passed Universal Health Care Law which the agency vowed to support.
The IMAP includes services such as financial assistance for hospital bills, chemo and radiation therapy, dialysis treatments and other medical services to patients in need of medical help.
Pajarillo said the PCSO would retain institutional services, such as ambulance donations, calamity assistance, capability building for regional health units, medicine donations, and the Integrated Health for Overall Productivity and Empowerment (I-HOPE) program, among others.
Under the transitory provisions, PCSO was given two years to wrap its program.
According to the bill, the Department of Health (DOH) and PhilHealth in consultation and coordination to appropriate government agencies, civil society’s organization shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the bill not later than 180 days.
“We have two years to wrap up the program. Within those two years, there will be six months to craft the IRR so we’re still doing the usual at this point,” Pajarillo explained.
“We just hope that the public understands that as much as we want to help them according to their expectations, we also have our challenges. Know that we understand your predicament, let’s help each other,” Pajarillo concluded.