SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union, Feb. 8 (PIA) -- The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is among the government agencies that participated in the Laboratoryo, Konsulta, at Gamot para sa Lahat or Lab for All caravan that was recently held at the La Union Convention Center here.
PhilHealth offered free medical services to the residents through its Konsulta package.
The caravan is a brainchild of First Lady Marie Louise "Liza" Araneta-Marcos and aims to bring primary health care services closer to the people.
“We would like to extend our appreciation for allowing PhilHealth to bring our Konsulta benefit package to the constituents,” Marissa Mapile, information officer of PhilHealth La Union, said.
The agency’s program is a primary healthcare provider under the Universal Healthcare (UHC) Act, which seeks to give comprehensive and quality outpatient medical services.
Under this package is the Konsulta Member Registration which focuses more on prevention through consultation, which members can avail through any accredited Konsulta providers in the province and the region.
“The Konsulta package is essential because as they say ‘prevention is better than cure’. Through this program, members will be given free medicine, maintenance, and laboratory tests that they need so as not to worsen any disease they may have,” Mapile explained.
The Konsulta package is composed of consultations, health risk screening and assessment, laboratory and diagnostic tests, and medicines for asthma, pneumonia, diarrhea, urinary tract infection (UTI), hypertension, and diabetes.
Laboratory and diagnostic tests comprise of complete blood count (CBC) with platelet count, urinalysis, fecalysis or stool exam, sputum microscopy, fecal occult blood test, pap smear, lipid profile, fasting blood sugar (FBS), oral glucose tolerance test, electrocardiogram (ECG), chest X-ray, creatinine, and HbA1c test to diagnose type 2 diabetes.
During the event, PhilHealth-Region 1 worked with the provincial government of La Union to facilitate the registration of around 2,000 members, including senior citizens and the underprivileged.
An information booth was also set up for member registration and to address questions from on-site participants.
Mapile said that based on their agency’s data, La Union has 19 accredited Rural Health Units (RHU) in various municipalities that will serve as PhilHealth Konsulta facilities.
A total of seven government hospitals, namely: Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center, Balaoan District Hospital, Caba District Hospital, Bacnotan District Hospital, Naguilian District Hospital, Rosario District Hospital, and La Union Medical Center are also accredited PhilHealth Konsulta providers.
Mapile also reiterated that they highly encourage people to avail themselves of the said package to prevent disease complications and hospital confinement.
Registered members of PhilHealth may choose their preferred accredited Konsulta facilities through self-registration through the member portal at www.philhealth.gov.ph.
They may also visit the nearest PhilHealth office and present a valid ID for those who prefer assisted registration. (JCR/MJTAB/AMB/KJCR, PIA La Union)
