PARTIDO Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo Lacson on Monday said the Universal Health Care Act is still underfunded by about P84 billion — a gap that must be addressed by the next administration to stop hospitals from leaving the state health insurance system for good.

This would prevent the public from suffering more amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Lacson noted that more private hospitals were cutting ties with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. over unpaid hospitalization claims that reached about P20 billion as of November.

The senator noted the full implementation of the UHCA is crucial for the country to address the pandemic, which is the priority of the Partido Reporma chief once he is elected president.

“Kami sa aming isang programa, siyempre, uunahin ‘yung pandemya pa rin. Meron tayong Universal Health Care Act na naipasa 2018. Hanggang ngayon hindi pa fully funded kahit kaya naman. Ang full implementation nito nasa mga P257 billion pero ang inilagak na pondo para sa 2022, P173-billion lang,” Lacson said.

He added that Philhealth should be chaired by a competent fund manager or financial expert from the Department of Finance and not by the secretary of Health.

As one of the senators who passed the UHCA, Lacson wondered why the law could not be funded correctly. He pointed out that a fully funded health care act means that all villages will be covered and that there would be one hospital bed for every 800 population.

Statistics show that in 2020, in the country’s poorest regions such as Mimaropa, the ratio was one hospital bed per 10,000 people – way below the proportion of one bed for every 1,000 prescribed by the World Health Organization.

“Nagrerebelde na ‘yung mga ospital sa Iloilo. Nag-wi-withdraw na sila ng membership sa PhilHealth. What if ‘yung mga hospital lumabas sa PhilHealth? Ang mahihirapan ay ‘yung mga kababayan natin,” the Partido Reporma chief warned.