You will need to be wealthy to be healthy

By: Moira G. Gallaga - @inquirerdotnet

I flew in to the Philippines more than two months ago to attend to some family business matters. Two weeks into my stay, I experienced frequent bouts of nausea, fatigue, an outbreak of rashes and blemishes on my skin, vomiting, and difficulty keeping down food. As I have autoimmune and gastrointestinal issues, it appears that these symptoms were being triggered all at once.

Then, just a little over a week prior to my scheduled departure back to Sweden, I fainted and dropped to the floor. I was out very briefly. This has happened to me before, the most recent being in February this year. As soon as I could, I went to the emergency room of a private hospital to get myself checked.

My three-day hospital confinement made me think about and raise questions related to the health-care system in the Philippines. First of all, I wish to point out that we have very good and capable medical professionals and staff, and a number of both public and private hospitals are, likewise, of good quality. While there continues to be significant gaps and issues concerning the health-care system and services in the Philippines, there has been growing improvement over the years. The passage of the Universal Health Care Act in 2019 has strengthened PhilHealth’s ability to provide better coverage as the country’s public health insurance provider. Efforts are also underway to pass additional public health-care-related laws to further improve the situation, though these are currently facing funding challenges.

Given that quality health-care services and treatment are available in the Philippines, what came to my mind, in light of my hospitalization, is access to them. Perhaps, in terms of preventive and primary care and services, there are more options and opportunities for access, especially in cities and large towns. What I would like to focus on though are cases involving serious and life-threatening diseases or injuries that require highly specialized treatment and facilities. In this situation, the options are mostly narrowed down to private hospitals, access to which will be significantly hampered by the costs involved.

I am fortunate that, in addition to my PhilHealth, I also have private medical insurance coverage. As of 2019, there are around four million Filipinos with access to health maintenance organizations, 90 percent of which are under corporate plans. Then again, not all medical insurance policies are the same. The better and more comprehensive the coverage with higher benefit limits and lower out-of-pocket expense and deductibles, the higher the premium. If you work for a company that provides a generous health-care package, then good for you. Then again, even if the policy isn’t that comprehensive, it is far better than having none at all.

Furthermore, while 90 percent of the population is reported to be registered with PhilHealth, a study has shown that Filipinos still shoulder 34 to 44.7 percent of out-of-pocket expenses even as members of this state health insurer. So just imagine what patients and their family go through if they don’t have any insurance coverage at all.

Aside from worrying about the effects of the disease or injury and the outcome of any treatment administered, there is the added stress and pressure of scraping up the money to cover the hospital bill, the doctors’ fees, and cost of medication. Even after the money is somehow raised and the treatment is successful, the family will most likely be saddled with considerable debt.

These issues need to be tackled. For many families and individuals, all it takes is for one member to develop a very serious disease or get life-threatening injuries for them to lose everything they’ve saved up for, and get their lives upended. How all these can be effectively addressed, I leave to those who know better about these matters. As they say, “health is wealth,” but given the current state of things, it appears that you will need to be wealthy in order to be healthy.

Moira G. Gallaga served three Philippine presidents as presidential protocol officer, and was posted as a diplomat at the Philippine consulate general in Los Angeles, and the Philippine Embassy in Washington.