Php1.312 million<\/a> for a 15-day confinement. According\nto the patient, a huge chunk of the medical bill were charges for laboratory\ntests, doctors\u2019 professional fees, intubation, and the ventilator and\nrespirator she used throughout her admission. Though all her medical expenses\nwere fully covered by PhilHealth, this is no longer the case for COVID-19\npatients admitted in accredited hospitals from April 15 onwards. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAt the start of the pandemic, the Duterte administration assured\nthe public that it has individuals infected with COVID-19 covered. However,\nPhilHealth announced in early April that it would no longer shoulder all\nexpenses and would instead implement case rate packages for confirmed and\nprobable cases effective April 15. According to PhilHealth Circular 2020-0009,\npatients with mild pneumonia can avail of a maximum coverage of Php43,997,\nwhile moderate and severe pneumonia patients can have a maximum amount coverage\nof Php143,267 and Php333,519, respectively. Critical patients, on the other\nhand, can access a Php786,384-worth maximum benefit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But PhilHealth computations for these packages contradict the\ngovernment\u2019s assurances and may not be enough to cover the numerous medical\nprocedures COVID-19 patients must undergo. Medical expenses in excess of the\ncase rates will be paid out-of-pocket, and the amount could be considerable. If\nthe patient with the Php1.312 million medical bill for example had been\nconfined after April 15, PhilHealth would have just paid the Php333,519 maximum\ncoverage for severe pneumonia patients. The remaining Php978,481 or almost 75%\nof the patient\u2019s total medical bill would have to be paid out-of-pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The abrupt economic shutdown resulted in most Filipinos losing\nincome and struggling with the recent rise in the cost of living, especially\nthe poor and vulnerable. Many of them can ill-afford to pay for medical\nexpenses and may no longer consult doctors despite having symptoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burning\nOut<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAside from the health infrastructure, the government also needs to\nreinforce the country\u2019s human resource for health. Even before the pandemic,\nFilipino doctors and nurses were already treating patients beyond their\ncapacity. According to the Philippine\nHealth Review 2018, there are 3.9 doctors and 8.6 nurses for 10,000 people.\nThis medical worker to patient ratio is a far cry from the World Health Organization\n(WHO)-recommended 10 doctors and 20 nurses for every 10,000 population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) study also\nnoted that, in a 24-hour set-up, 1 doctor and 2 nurses will be needed to treat\n6 ward patients. Critical care patients will need 1 doctor and 1 nurse each as\nwell as other special healthcare workers such as a pulmonologist, intensivist,\ninfectious disease specialist, and mechanical ventilator technicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The available healthcare workers in the country will not suffice.\nWith no significant addition to the health workforce, the country\u2019s doctors and\nnurses will be overwhelmed and exhausted. There will also be a greater risk of\ninfection for medical workers since having more patients could mean more\nexposure to COVID-19. There are already 3,805 healthcare workers infected and\n35 of them have already died. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DOH decision to reassign physicians under the Doctors to the\nBarrios program is another sign that there are not enough doctors in COVID-19\ntreatment hospitals and reinforcements are urgently needed. However, only 5,216\nhealth workers have so far been hired to fill the DOH-approved 9,297 slots for\nemergency hire. This slow hiring means medical frontliners continue to work\nbeyond their capacity to treat the piling number of COVID-19 patients. The DOH\nitself has also noted the difficulty in hiring health workers because many of\nthem have private services that they cannot leave. It also does not help that\nthe entry level salary for healthcare workers is low. For example, a medical laboratory\ntechnician\u2014which is under salary grade 6, can only earn up to Php 15,524 per\nmonth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country\u2019s shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) is\nalso contributing to the huge number of infected health workers. According to\nthe WHO, the global shortage of PPEs is affecting healthcare workers worldwide.\nThis shortage could have been eased if the country had the means to manufacture\nits own PPEs, such as a local textile industry. But the country is reliant on\nimported PPEs. The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PhilExport) stated\nthat despite factories\u2019 willingness to produce PPEs, they cannot simply do so\nbecause of the lack of fabric and other materials. Had there been a Philippine\nindustry for essential health protection needs, infection among front liners\nand in general would have been minimized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overcoming\nincompetence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Duterte administration\u2019s failed COVID-19 strategy in ending\nthe current health crisis exposes its incompetence and lack of sensibility. The\n124 days spent in lockdown and the opportunity costs incurred during this\nperiod have been wasted because the government failed to effectively intervene\nand keep the healthcare system from collapsing. It should now set its\npriorities straight and put all hands on deck to amplify health responses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government is not prioritizing funding for the healthcare\nsystem and social amelioration but it is pushing for ill-timed programs that\nwill allegedly help in the country\u2019s economic recovery. A concrete example is\nthe continuation of the Duterte administration\u2019s \u201cBuild, Build, Build\u201d program\ndespite the more pressing need to reallocate more funds for COVID-19 response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Philippine Program for Recovery with Equity and Solidarity (PH-PROGRESO)\nof the government shows that it is more inclined to save big businesses first\nbefore the Filipino people. The huge budget allocated for private corporations\u2019\nbenefit should be realigned to help the overwhelmed healthcare structure. Fiscal\nmeasures for health and economic recovery should go hand in hand instead of\npitting one against the other since overall economic performance is very much\nreliant on the well-being of the Filipino work force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inadequate and relaxed response to COVID-19 hinders the Philippine\neconomy from fully opening. It has only been two months since the gradual\noperation of businesses and since workers returned to their respective\nworkplaces but the government is already losing control of the situation. Aside\nfrom the uncontrollable spread of the disease, hospitals are now reporting that\nthey reached their maximum critical care capacity. Forty-eight hospitals\nalready reported that their ICU beds are now full, and it is alarming that 50%\nof these hospitals are located in the National Capital Region (NCR). Meanwhile,\nCebu City\u2014which is the new epicenter of the disease in the country, is also\nnearing the danger zone in its critical care capacity. If the population of the\nPhilippines\u2019 major economic hubs keep on getting sick, then it will be much\nharder for the economy to recover its losses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government must protect first the Filipino people from the\nCOVID-19 threat. Majority of Filipino workers are at risk of contracting the\ndisease. The economy cannot recover without a healthy workforce to power it.\nAccording to UP\u2019s analysis, half of the Philippines\u2019 major economic\ncontributors are considered high risk spreaders of COVID-19, such as\nconstruction workers, security guards and commercial drivers. Many of them are\nminimum wage earners lacking adequate social benefits and protection. This\nmakes them more vulnerable to infection and with limited means to pay for\nexpensive COVID-19 treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government should speed up the efforts in broadening and building up testing and hospital capacity. More than ever, it should make healthcare accessible and affordable for every Filipino. This includes making COVID-19 testing and treatment free for all. The pandemic will not be over as long as infected Filipinos are not isolated and treated due to the lack of facilities and expensive healthcare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, the entire Philippine economy will suffer if Filipinos are not protected from this disease. The economic downgrade will be far greater if the coronavirus crisis lasts longer. The government cannot afford another lockdown since it will not only endanger the economy but will also bring intense hunger and more hardship. It must act now and prevent the health system from collapsing and the Filipino people from succumbing to both the pandemic and to poverty. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY MARICAR PIEDAD<\/p>\n
The Duterte administration must act now and prevent the health system from collapsing and the Filipino people from succumbing to both the pandemic and poverty.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":9989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-withbanner.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[2048,3],"tags":[2199,2218,347,353,239,241,555],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9987"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9987"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10152,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9987\/revisions\/10152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}