CEBU, Philippines - Cebu now has the highest number of poor families enrolled with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, under the Sponsored Program, among all provinces nationwide.
PhilHealth regional vice president William Chavez, in a press statement sent to The FREEMAN, said that “more than 100 percent of Cebu’s poor are now enjoying free health insurance coverage.”
Chavez said that Cebu province has already exceeded the enrollment target on poor families under the said PhilHealth program.
As of September this year, local governments in Cebu have subsidized the health insurance premium of 187,884 poor families. This is 20 percent more than the number of listed poor families in the province (excluding highly urbanized cities) as per recent National Statistics Coordination Board data.
Chavez also said that Governor Gwendolyn Garcia’s partnership with PhilHealth is pivotal in broadening the health insurance coverage of Cebu’s poor.
PhilHealth social insurance officer Dundee Roble said that over 70 percent of the total enrollment in Cebu is through the sponsorship of the provincial government alone.
Chavez further said that Cebu local chief executives and Cebu second district Rep. Pablo Garcia, father of the governor, were credited for the rest of the sponsorship.
Gwen then urged Cebu mayors to partner with her in implementing the Sponsored Program together with all component cities in the province adopting the program.
Mandaue City, a highly urbanized city, also partnered with the governor in enrolling poor families under the program.
Currently, 6,310 poor families have health insurance coverage. The figure stands for more than 100 percent of the city’s poor population, Chavez added. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/MEEV (FREEMAN NEWS)