INSERTION | UP-PGH mention in Sin Tax implementing rules unfair to other public hospitals - DOH January 14. 2014 InterAksyon The online news portal of TV5 interaksyon/article/78647/insertion--up-pgh-mention-in-sin-tax-implementing-rules-unfair-to-other-public-hospitals---doh MANILA – The proposed implementing rules and regulations should not specify funding for the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) or it would be unfair to other public hospitals that also provide health service, Health Undersecretary Ted Herbosa told InterAksyon. In a phone interview, Herbosa reacted to an earlier story and said specifying that UP-PGH be a research center and a consultant in human resource policies in the health industry were insertions in the IRR. “I don’t know (who made the insertions), certainly people from UP-PGH. It was not me, although I myself am basically from UP-PGH and only seconded to the Department of Health. I work at the DOH only because the Chancellor of UP-Manila allows me. I will be returning to UP-PGH after my work here,” he said. “Whoever made the insertions do not understand what Secretary Ona and I are trying to do,” he added. The DOH official said these insertions create mandates “larger than what the law specifies. It cannot be that way.” Herbosa said he was among those who clamored for the passage of the Sin Tax Law, which did not specify any public hospital for any specific funding. “Was funding for UP-PGH discussed during the Sin Tax deliberations? It was not designed for one specific hospital,” he said. For a universal health care system This is because the DOH is trying to institute a universal health care system that is sustainable, Herbosa said. And that can only be done if the money is given directly to the people. As the law provides, 85 percent of Sin Tax revenues goes to the implementation of a universal health care system and this is done by paying for the health premiums of the poor enrolled at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Herbosa explained. Already, he said, 14.7 million families or roughly over 40 million Filipinos are enrolled under PhilHealth. This is a “dramatic” improvement from the previous year’s enrollment of 5.2 million families. UP-PGH, like other public hospitals, will still get paid through the services they render to their patients, he said. Whoever inserted the provision on UP-PGH in the IRR of the Sin Tax law only “wants a return to the old system of sponsorship through PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund), where specific hospitals are identified.” “Our way benefits all Filipinos, whether they go to UP-PGH or Heart Center,” he said. Putting money into UP-PGH benefits only Filipinos from Metro Manila and other nearby regions, Herbosa said. “Our way creates equity, for those from other parts of Luzon, from Visayas, Mindanao,” he said. “What about other teaching hospitals? Like Ospital ng Maynila? Or Quirino Medical Center?” he added. ‘UP-PGH overfunded’ Specifying that UP-PGH be a research center is redundant, Herbosa said. “It is already a research center through its National Institutes of Health, where (Health) Secretary (Enrique) Ona sits as the chair of the board,” he said. UP-PGH already has the highest budget among government hospitals at P3 billion, higher even than Heart Center’s P200 million. It gets a third of the UP budget, the health official said. UP-PGH is a 1,400-bed university hospital that does research, provides health services, and teaches future medical professionals. “It is already a laboratory for its students. What PGH needs to do is improve its own governance. “What we’re doing is a game-changer,” Herbosa said. - Ted Herbosa Rosel Doval Santos Charlotte Chiong Maria Teresa Habitan
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 03:07:13 +0000