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By Sammy Martin, Correspondent
RESOURCE persons invited by the Senate committee
on labor and human resource and development unanimously agree with
the proposal to set up overseas Filipino workers (OFW) Hospital to
promptly address their health care needs and that of their families.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada
said other stakeholders have given new suggestions to his committee
to better meet OFWs’ health care needs.
However, he also said that reservations have
also been given against the plan to put up an OFW Hospital.
“What’s important now is that creative
measures are being put forward and carefully studied, all in the
name of helping the OFWs address their health care needs in the best
way possible,” Estrada said.
Estrada, concurrent chairman of the joint
congressional oversight committee on labor and employment, also said
that he was delighted over enthusiasm demonstrated by the resource
persons, implying the significance of the OFW’s health care
problem and their earnest desire in taking part in its resolution.
A paper presented by Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration (OWWA) under Administrator Marianito Roque noted
various studies pointing out that “the pattern of illness,
injury and death among OFWs and their dependents is somewhat
different from the general population,” hence the need to put up
an OFW Hospital.
Leading causes of death and morbidity among OFWs
include cardiovascular diseases, pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis,
infectious diseases, hepatisis and psychiatric disorders, among
others.
Dr. Carmelo Alfiler, director of the Philippine
General Hospital, on the other hand, underscored the huge
construction, equipping and maintaining costs of a special hospital
for OFWs.
Dr. Alfiler suggested that OWWA can enter into
agreement with a health institution wherein OWWA can “become the
service purchaser, and the hospital the service provider.”
The PGH director also proposed for OWWA to
invest in upgrading existing hospital facilities and give bona fide
OFWs and their dependents preferential health care.
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)
and the Department of Health (DOH) share the same idea of expanding
current health benefits package for OFWs.
According to PhilHealth, an outpatient package
is being enjoyed by OFWs that includes free check-up, routine lab
examinations and free medicines (up to P500 worth), health education
and counseling in selected DOH-retained hospitals nationwide.
PhilHealth also stressed that OFWs can enroll in
its Overseas Workers’ Program where members pay P900 per year as
premium, but its benefits can be enjoyed by their dependents, as
well.
If the OFW gets sick abroad or confined in a
foreign hospital where they are working, they can actually reimburse
hospital expenses from PhilHealth.
However, Rhodora Abaño, an officer of the
Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA), lamented that these policies can
strengthen “discriminatory tendencies” in favor of documented
migrant worker. She warned that these policies can disenfranchise
undocumented ones from existing welfare systems.
The committee hearing was focused on Senate
Bills 421, 938 and 1000 authored by Estrada, and fellow senators
Loren Legarda and Senate President Manuel Villar, respectively.
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