Abstract
Health is recognized by the Philippine constitution as a basic human right. The Philippines, compared to most Asian countries, produces more and better human resources for health. However, the Philippines are challenged by attracting and retaining staff in the under-served areas of the country. Philippine allotted 4.2-4.4% of its GDP to health from 2009 to 2011. Furthermore, considerable inequities in health care access and outcomes between Socio-economic groups remain. The Phil Health's limited breadth and depth of coverage has resulted in high levels of out of pocket payments. The implementation of the reforms in financing, service delivery and regulation which are aimed to tackle the inefficiencies and inequalities in the health system has been challenged by the decentralized environment and the presence of private sector, often creating fragmentation and variation in the quality of health services across the country.
TopThe Philippine Health Care Delivery System
The Philippine health system has undergone changes and trends to meet the timely demand for it. In fact, there have been many legislative actions undertaken by the government to form the regulatory framework for the health system and public health in the country. Example of these are the Local Government code of 1991, National Health Insurance Act of 1995, Organ Donation Act (1991), Hospital Licensure Act, Pharmacy Act, Dangerous Drugs Act and many others.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Health Care System: The World Health Organization defines health care systems as follows: “A health system consists of all organizations, people and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore or maintain health. This includes efforts to influence determinants of health as well as more direct health-improving activities. A health system is therefore more than the pyramid of publicly owned facilities that deliver personal health services. It includes, for example, a mother caring for a sick child at home; private providers; behavior change programmes; vector-control campaigns; health insurance organizations; occupational health and safety legislation. It includes inter-sectorial action by health staff, for example, encouraging the ministry of education to promote female education, a well-known determinant of better health.”
Health: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “health is more than just the absence of illness or disability, but also is physical, spiritual and social well-being.”
Department of Health: The Department of Health is the Philippine’s lead agency in health. The major mandate of DOH is provide national policy direction & develop national plans, technical standards & guidelines on health.
Health Expenditures: According to U.S. National Library of Medicine, health expenditures occurs the amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (Health Care Costs) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.
Out-Of-Pocket: OOP is defined as payments made for health care services by patients or households. In general, OOP cost refers health expenses that are not covered by insurance.
Health Economics: Health economics can be defined as the application of the rules of economics to the health services. It can also be defined as the efficient use of the resources allocated to the health sector.
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation: Philippine’s national health insurance program aiming to provide affordable health care for the population with site location, service and contact information