DAGUPAN CITY — Approximately 1.97 million residents of the Ilocos Region have utilized the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) Konsultasyong Sulit Tama (Konsulta) program since 2022. The Konsulta program, a comprehensive outpatient benefit mandated by the Universal Health Care Law, offers a wide range of laboratory and diagnostic services as well as medicines to PhilHealth members.
According to Philippines News Agency, chief of PhilHealth Ilocos Region’s health delivery management division, the agency has disbursed PHP189 million for the Konsulta program from 2022 until June 2024. The Konsulta package includes tests such as complete blood count, urinalysis, and electrocardiograms, along with 21 medicines for communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, hypertension, and diabetes. Each PhilHealth member is entitled to a PHP1,700 Konsulta package benefit per year.
Dr. Arzadon encouraged members who have not yet registered for the Konsulta program to do so with accredited healthcare providers in the region. As of now, there are 161 Konsulta-accredited providers in the Ilocos Region, including 12 private facilities. "The members have the right to choose which healthcare provider they want to avail of the Konsulta package," she added.
In addition to the Konsulta disbursements, PhilHealth has also disbursed PHP2.3 billion worth of benefits and claims in the first half of this year. According to Dr. Majesty-Ritchie Cor Parayno, a medical specialist with PhilHealth Ilocos Region's benefit administration section, the most commonly availed packages were in-patient services for seasonal diseases such as dengue, leptospirosis, and acute gastroenteritis. The case rates for these and other conditions have been increased by 30 percent this year, with adjustments made to specific cases like high-risk pneumonia and stroke.
Dr. Parayno also highlighted that the region’s turnaround time for processing and crediting claims is 18 days, significantly shorter than the 60-day requirement under the law, with no backlogs reported. The Ilocos Region currently has 4.31 million PhilHealth members and their dependents, with this number expected to rise following the submission of indigent members’ names under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Listahanan 3 program.