PhilHealth hastens Health Care IRR crafting

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities are fast-tracking the drafting of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Universal Health Care, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) said yesterday.

PhilHealth acting president and chief executive officer Roy Ferrer said the drafting of the IRR is in “full swing” as the agency has held the stakeholders’ forum and a workshop among its technical working groups created for the purpose.    

“The sooner we finish the IRR with the Department of Health, the earlier this can be subjected to public consultations and more importantly the sooner it gets implemented for the benefit of our countrymen,” Ferrer said in a statement.

PhilHealth recently conducted a health care financing summit themed “Multiple Lenses, One Collective Stand on Health Financing: A Framework for Action.” 

The summit aims to gain experts’ and stakeholders’ insights on how to better approach health care financing issues as an  input and guide to the crafting of the UHC’s IRR.

The agency has completed the first round of its IRR workshop in Pampanga, wherein technical working groups presented and debated on the first draft of the IRR following a series of meetings and discussions with other national government agencies. 

Under the law, all Filipinos should be included in the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), guaranteeing their immediate eligibility to the program’s benefits.The measure mandates PhilHealth to come up with a comprehensive outpatient package, which include outpatient drugs, within two years after its enactment.