(Eagle News) — Senator JV Ejercito on Tuesday, July 10, expressed hope the Universal Health Care bill will be passed when Congress resumes in July.
This was after President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent the measure, which aims to provide healthcare coverage, including in-patient and out-patient services, and emergency services, among others, to all Filipinos.
The House has passed a measure seeking for the same.
A counterpart measure is pending before the Senate.
According to Ejercito, 54.2 percent of health expenditures in 2016 were shouldered by Filipinos, while the government shares “only comprise 34.2 percent of the total health expenditures.”
“I view universal health care as an integral to our anti-poverty drive. Ensuring good health for Filipinos is crucial to economic development as because ensuring the well-being of all Filipinos means that they can be more productive, which further means they can better overcome poverty,” he said. Meanne Corvera