Pantawid Pamilya grantees in NorMin to enjoy PhilHealth benefits

By Apipa P. Bagumbaran

Sunday 8th of July 2012

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, July 8 (PIA) -- The 226,899 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries in Northern Mindanao can now benefits from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation or PhilHealth.

The national government provided P12.028 billion as subsidy for health insurance premium of indigents enrolled in the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), as well as indigents under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

In 2010, PhilHealth passed Board Resolution 1417 adopting the means test protocol of the NHTS-PR, being the source of all indigent families to be enrolled under the sponsored program of the NHIP.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman has hailed the issuance of PhilHealth’s Circular that provides entitlement of all Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries to NHIP benefits in any health care providers accredited by PhilHealth.

She said that qualified beneficiaries of the PhilHealth’s sponsored program are those identified Pantawid Pamilya household head beneficiaries, their legal spouse as reflected in the NHTS-PR list, their children below 21 years old and their parents 60 years old and above.

To avail of NHIP benefits, Pantawid Pamilya primary beneficiary-member-patients need only to present their Pantawid Pamilya ID card.

Soliman said that Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries, including their qualified dependents are entitled to primary care benefits that include consultation, diagnostic services and medicines from health care providers by PhilHealth. They are also entitled to inpatient and outpatient care services. (Oliver Badel Inodeo, DSWD-10/APB-PIA10)