THIS IS in reaction to the story titled “No PhilHealth coverage for 1M senior citizens” (News, 6/13/15).
We believe that the headline may have misled Inquirer readers into believing that one million senior citizens are being left out of PhilHealth coverage.
We wish to reiterate: All senior citizens without existing PhilHealth coverage are already provided with health insurance by virtue of Republic Act No. 10645. The one million senior citizens referred to in the story are those that we have yet to enlist and assign a unique PhilHealth Identification Number or PIN; the rest are already listed either as existing members (in the lifetime, indigent, employed and sponsored programs) or as senior citizen members since RA 10645 took effect in 2014.
Once we receive all submissions from the Oscas (offices of senior citizens affairs), all qualified senior citizens would have been enlisted and issued their own PIN and member data records (MDR).
But with or without the MDR, all senior citizens can be assured of PhilHealth coverage anytime they seek treatment in our accredited facilities nationwide by just showing their Osca-issued IDs.
—ISRAEL FRANCIS
A. PARGAS, MD,
OIC-vice president,
Corporate Affairs Group,
PhilHealth