Senator Bong Go has pressed the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to immediately roll out physical identification cards for its members, saying this could boost confidence in the health system and encourage more Filipinos to seek medical care.
“It’s a different level of assurance when they have physical proof of their membership. The cost of producing these IDs is minimal compared to the confidence it gives our citizens,” Go stressed during a Senate Committee on Health and Demography hearing.
The senator pointed out that PhilHealth’s Konsulta Program, which provided free primary care services, previously suffered from low utilization largely due to lack of awareness and the absence of a tangible membership tool.
PhilHealth president and CEO Edwin Mercado reported that 32.78 million Filipinos are now enrolled in the Yakap program — the expanded version of Konsulta. Under Yakap, members are entitled to free consultations, diagnostic tests, medicines, and even cancer screenings in accredited facilities.
Mercado said 3,582 facilities nationwide are currently accredited, of which 2,839 are managed by local government units and 743 by private providers. He added that 92 percent of municipalities and cities, including remote and island communities, are already covered.
Acknowledging the senator’s concerns, Mercado admitted there are gaps in distributing IDs but assured lawmakers that the agency is addressing the issue. This year alone, he said, around 682,000 additional members — mostly indirect members — have already received their physical cards.
