Philhealth to Increase Premium to Sustain “Z” Packaged Benefits

The need to increase the monthly premium of Philippine Health Insurance (Philhealth) is inevitable these days when Filipinos are being challenged with local catastrophic and foreign dreaded diseases, Oscar E. Picazo, health consultant of the Philippine Health Sector Performance (PHSP) said on Thursday.

During the regional forum of PHSP at the Marco Polo Hotel, Picazo described the “Z” Packaged benefits as “limited and not enough.”

Philhealth offered Z package to its members who are at the stage four or an ultimatum point of a cancerous disease.

According to Picazo, “why this is done by Philhealth, because they don’t have enough funds for its members who are suffering from catastrophic diseases.”

According to Picazo, the Philippine is the only country in the world that has the lowest level of Philhealth premium. He added that it is high time now that Philhealth must raise its monthly collections both from ordinary and elite members to cope the growing needs of patients who want a total recovery from a catastrophic illness.

“How come Philhealth only extends its services to those who are at the last stages of cancer, such as kidney, breast, prostate, leukemia, heart and lung, its because of its limited funds”, Picazo pointed out.

Philhealth’s Z Benefit Packaged will not accept anybody whose cancerous disease is yet on stage 1 or 2 level, because these are still easy to be cured.

Picazo also stressed that everybody who was saved from death because of the Z benefits Philhealth extends to him, “it is still temporary and remain obscure to live a longer life”, he said.

This happened because Philhealth’s help is at the late stage of patient’s recovery”, he said.

Asked if how much the ideal amount of increase of premium to be paid by Philhealth members in case the government warrants, Picazo said it will be upon the recommendation of the Philippine legislators who will study first the right amount of increase for the Philhealth’s monthly premium.

However, still the story has to go back to basic, that in order to live a little bit longer, “everybody must practice eating fruits and vegetables, and avoid eating oily and fatty foods, never to symphatize fast foods which are mushrooming now here in the country because they were already banned in some developed countries abroad,” he said.

The Filipino life expectancy now is ranging from 68-70, and anybody who dies at the lapse of these age may be lucky enough and even ideal to be congratulated, Picazo added.