Filipinos will soon be able to name a health proxy directly on their PhilHealth records, with an overhauled registration form due out before the close of September, Health Secretary Edwin Mercado told lawmakers Monday.
The change carries particular weight for OFWs, solo parents, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, who often struggle to have a trusted person recognized by hospital staff when medical decisions must be made on their behalf.
Dr. Joseph Lachica, PhilHealth vice president for the management group, confirmed the agency is reworking several of its documents to accommodate the designation. “We’re updating our membership form, registration form, and in the latest update, we will include the field for declaring the health proxy,” he said.
The commitments surfaced as Akbayan Party-list Representative Perci Cendaña pressed the officials during interpellation. He flagged that certain hospitals refuse to honor the Right to Care Ordinance, pointing to the absence of a supporting memo from the health department as the reason for the pushback.
That ordinance gives patients the ability to name someone authorized to make medical calls for them should they become incapable of doing so.
At the local level, the measure is already operating in a number of jurisdictions, among them Quezon City, San Juan City, Parañaque City, Cavite, Laguna, Iloilo City, and Cebu.
