President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has urged the government healthcare institutions and private sector to further collaborate in a bid to improve health insurance operations in the country.
Marcos raised the need to further strengthen the collaboration between the public and private sectors in his meeting with representatives of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC).
The President tasked the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to check “best practices” and include digitalization initiatives for improving health insurance operations and offering health benefits.
He stressed that strengthening public-private partnerships coupled with strong third-party assessments will address efficiency concerns in dealing with the health needs of Filipinos.
The PSAC, for its part, expressed commitment to help the administration in improving the health system, particularly in strengthening the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) by providing a third-party assessment that will focus on addressing operational gaps in claims filing, membership application, digitalization and actuarial valuation, among others.
Its members also pledged commitment to bring in cheaper medicines and addressing the shortage of nurses.
The private sector vowed to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to upgrade its systems to obtain accreditation with various international regulatory bodies and raise awareness about the value of generic drugs.
Among those present in the PSAC healthcare sector group meeting were PSAC Strategic Convenor Sabin Aboitiz, PSAC Healthcare Lead Paolo Maximo Borromeo, Filipino-American molecular biologist and priest Dr. Nicanor Austriaco, Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. CEO Dr. Harish Pillai and Unilab President and CEO Clinton Campos Hess.
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