The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has expanded its Yaman ng Kalusugan Program (YAKAP), increasing free medicines to 75 and adding screening tests for four of the country’s most common cancers.

Under the regular YAKAP package, members are entitled to free consultations, 13 laboratory tests, and 20 medicines.

During a television interview on Wednesday, Feb. 18, PhilHealth spokesperson and senior vice president Dr. Israel Francis A. Pargas said the program has since been expanded to include 54 additional drugs under the GAMOT component, which are also provided free but subject to a P20,000 annual cap per member.

“Pero in-expand na po natin ito ngayon to include another 54 drugs iyong tinatawag nating GAMOT at naman po ay libre rin pero may limitasyon na around 20,000 pesos per person per year (But we have now expanded this to include another 54 drugs under what we call GAMOT, which are also free but with a limitation of around 20,000 pesos per person per year),” he said.

With the expansion, PhilHealth said a total of 75 medicines are now available free of charge under the program.

“So ngayon, lahat po ay 75 drugs na po iyong makukuha na libre under the GAMOT program (So now, a total of 75 drugs can already be obtained for free under the GAMOT program),” said Pargas.

PhilHealth said it has also expanded YAKAP to cover screening tests for four of the most common cancers in the Philippines.

“Iyon pong breast cancer, so mayroon tayong libreng chest mammography at saka po chest, breast ultrasound; Para naman po sa liver cancer, we have libreng Alpha-fetoprotein at para po sa lung cancer, mayroon tayong tinatawag na low-dose CT scan; and para po sa colorectal cancer is iyon pong libreng colonoscopy screening examination (For breast cancer, we have free mammography and breast ultrasound; for liver cancer, we have free Alpha-fetoprotein testing; for lung cancer, we have what we call a low-dose CT scan; and for colorectal cancer, we have free colonoscopy screening examination),” Pargas said.

According to PhilHealth, the goal is to turn YAKAP into a more comprehensive outpatient primary care benefit package.

“So, patuloy pa rin po nating inaaral kung paano pa at ano pa ang puwedeng maipadagdag natin na benepisyo to make YAKAP a comprehensive outpatient benefit primary care package (We continue to study what more benefits can be added to make YAKAP a comprehensive outpatient benefit primary care package),” he said.

PhilHealth said that more than 40 million Filipinos have registered under the YAKAP program, although only around 25 million have so far had their first patient encounter.

The state insurer added that these members are enrolled across about 4,099 YAKAP clinics nationwide, composed of government and private clinics and hospitals, with roughly 7,000 accredited primary care doctors.