Mga senador hati sa panukalang privatization ng PhilHealth

HATI ang Senado kaugnay sa panukalang isapribado ang Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
Ayon kay Senadora Grace Poe, chair ng Senate Committee on Public Services, pabor siya sa PhilHealth privatization.
Ipinunto ni Poe na mas mahusay ang private sector sa paghawak ng mga negosyo.
‘’Yes, in a way this is something that we can probably explore. I think that the private sector has done better in managing businesses,’’ ani Poe.
“In fact, we’ve seen that when the government took over the MRT (Metro Rail Transit), it’s actually been at a sorry state compared to the others that were ran by the private sector,’’ ayon sa senadora.
Aniya, kakailanganin nito ng safeguards upang matiyak na hindi basta-basta sisipa ang halaga ng PhilHealth premiums.
Tutol naman si Sen. Manny Pacquiao sa naturang ideya na taliwas aniya sa mismong layunin ng pagbibigay ng socialized healthcare para sa lahat ng mga Pilipino lalo na ang mga mahihirap.
Samantala, inirekomenda naman ni Senate President Vicente Sottto III ang pag-decentralize ng health insurance services.
Sinabi ni Sotto na mas makabubuti kung ang local government units ang hahawak sa naturang serbisyo.
“Therefore, it might be better if we let the local government units (LGUs) handle it, at least, in the provincial and city levels,’’ wika ni Sotto.
Samantala, naniniwala naman si Sen Joel Villanueva, na privatize man o hindi ay kailangan maging prayoridad ang pagpapaigting ng transparency at accountability measures sa PhilHealth.
‘’Regardless of the model we adopt, whether it’s private or government corporation, corruption will happen if transparency and accountability mechanisms are insufficient and public welfare is not priority. In our current situation, we have to make sure that those responsible will be held to account,” paliwanag ni Villanueva.
‘’We also have to make sure that individuals working in PhilHealth are there because of their competence and commitment to serve the people and not because of their political connection and self interest,’’ saad pa ni Villanueva. (Mylene Alfonso)