By Jel Santos The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) will allot P3 billion for the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law next year. PCSO General Manager Royina Marzan-Garma (center)
(JEL SANTOS / MANILA BULLETIN) This was disclosed by PCSO General Manager Royina Marzan-Garma during a press conference at the PCSO Main Office in Mandaluyong City, Wednesday. “We are glad to announce that, starting next year, PCSO will be supporting the UHC a hundred percent next year,” she said. The P3-billion UHC allocation will be coming from the agency’s Charity Fund, Garma said. PCSO will have limited resources for medical assistance. The allocation is 40 percent of the total Charity Fund. The PCSO general manager said that they have decided to prioritize only “catastrophic diseases” like cancer in their medical assistance program. “The only difference is that, since we are already giving substantial amount to the Universal Health Care, there will be a little limitation in our medical assistance,” she said. “We cannot spend something that we do not have.” This time we will focus on helping patients with serious diseases like those who need chemotherapy and hemodialysis, Garma said. On the other hand, she said the charity agency now pays higher taxes since their income also increased. “Even though our income here in PCSO went up, the agency’s Charity Fund was diminished because of the many taxes we are paying,” Garma said. PCSO said it is eyeing to generate P52 billion in 2020, because of the new games that it will introduce. The UHC Law, the Republic Act 11223, ensures holistic health care for over 100 million Filipinos. It provides that all Filipinos will be automatic members of PhilHealth as direct or indirect contributors, and shall be eligible to “No Balance Billing” once admitted to basic or ward accommodations in hospitals.