Veterans get better health care access

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department of Health (DOH) have signed an agreement that seeks to provide veterans greater access to medical services.

The agreement, which will strengthen the Veterans Hospitalization Program, was signed by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Health Secretary Enrique Ona last Tuesday in Camp Aguinaldo.

The program provides medical benefits and services to Filipino veterans and their dependents nationwide in hospitals accredited by the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.

It also provides a subsidy of P1,200 per day of hospital confinement for up to 45 days per patient every year.

Under the agreement, the Veterans Hospitalization Program will be implemented in all hospitals under the DOH.

It also gives partial reimbursement of some procedures like cataract surgery, cardiac procedures like angiogram, angioplasty, pace-maker placement and heart by-pass; endoaneurysmectomy, and chemotherapeutic agents.

Partial reimbursement may also be given to veterans and dependents that need hearing aid, hernia mesh, orthopedic implants and braces and dentures.

The agreement is expected to benefit veterans and their families who are living in remote provinces and who have no convenient access to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

The program will be implemented in 70 hospitals under the DOH and 531 government hospitals under local government units.

A total of 36,281 living World War II and post-war veterans and about 140,000 legal dependents are entitled to health benefits provided by the government.