Health for the rich, poor in Sultan Kudarat
IN SULTAN Kudarat, a province in the southwestern part of Mindanao, the rich and poor can go to the same private hospital. They will get the same treatment, see the same doctor and recover in the same facility. The only difference is that the poor patient will be discharged without paying a single centavo.
This was made possible by the public-private partnership initiative of five local government units in the InterLocal Health Zone (ILHZ) and seven hospitals in the province. Comprising Sultan Kudarat’s health zone are Bagumbayan, Isulan, Tacurong, Esperanza and Senator Ninoy Aquino, collectively known as Bites.
Answer to needs
“The local government has to find a way to answer the needs of the indigent, because they have nowhere to run to,” said Mayor Lina Montilla of Tacurong City, a recipient of the 2015 Champion for Health Governance Award.
“The health services that the rich can avail themselves of should also be available to the poor,” she said.
“In our city, no one should die because of lack of money,” she said.
Montilla is one of five Bites mayors who finished the Municipal Leadership and Governance Program (MLGP), the training component of the Health Leadership and Governance Program, a joint initiative of the Department of Health (DOH) and Zuellig Family Foundation.
Direct role
While ILHZ existed prior to MLGP, the mayors’ training convinced them to take a direct role in the health program, said Dr. Mercedez Manansala, provincial DOH officer in Sultan Kudarat.
Manansala said the mayors used to just send representa- tives to ILHZ meetings. “But now, they themselves come and discuss their concerns with the hospitals,” she said. “What’s better, the solutions come from them as well.”
Among the features of the Bites ILHZ program is the No Balance Billing (NBB) policy for poor patients, even in private hospitals.
Agreements
To carry out NBB, local governments entered into agreements with at least five private health facilities in Sultan Kudarat—Sandig Medical Clinic and Hospital, Quijano Clinic and Hospital, Tomboc- Salayog Hospital, Dr. Domingo Tamondong Memorial Hospital and Galinato Family Clinic and Hospital.
They have also two government partner hospitals—Sultan Kudarat provincial hospital and Senator Ninoy Aquino Hospital.
The NBB covers Bites-sponsored Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) members and indigents referred by the local government.
Eliminate home births
“Our first goal is to eliminate home births,” said Lorelie Resmundo, development management officer who coordinates with the towns of Bagumbayan and Isulan for ILHZ.
Health workers, she said, observed that most home births occurred because women were intimidated by the cost of giving birth in health facilities.
To avail themselves of free hospitalization, patients must present referral slips from the mayor or municipal health officer. The slips indicate the amount to be covered by the local government. The usual coverage is P3,000 per patient, on top of PhilHealth benefits, but the amount may go higher depending on patients’ needs.
Manansala said the NBB policy had been crucial in reducing maternal and infant deaths in Sultan Kudarat.