AnaKalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

For AnaKalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes, the proposed amendments to the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law as identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) aren't enough. 

As such, he said he will continue to push for the Free Annual Check-up Bill to be included in the UHC Law. 

Reyes, a vice chairman of the House Committee on Health, earlier filed House Bill (HB) No. 430, which aimed to establish a program that provides Filipinos with free annual check-ups including, but not limited to, blood sugar and cholesterol tests. 

If the Free Annual Medical Check-up Bill is embodied in the amendments to the UHC Law, it will help institutionalize the Philhealth's Konsulta Program and provide better care to Filipinos, the rookie solon said. 

Currently, PhilHealth Konsulta provides a primary care benefit package that provides capitation payments for annual checkups, selected diagnostics and medicines up to P1,700 per patient per year. 

“We thank Philhealth for expanding their packages and for the Konsulta Program, which we have been harping on/pushing for ever since. But we need to make these programs more responsive by ensuring sustainability and continuity—regardless of political dynamics," Reyes said. 

“We have to insulate these programs from political whims by embodying them in the LEDAC-approved Amendments to the UHC Law," he added.