BUTUAN CITY (PIA) – Caraga Region’s Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) membership registration has reached 96 percent as of December 2023. 

The announcement was made by PhilHealth Regional Vice President Michael Jibson C. Hernandez during the recent Kapihan sa PIA.

Hernandez reiterated the importance of membership registration, stating, "Para po maka-avail ka ng PhilHealth services at benefit packages ay dapat po registered ka sa PhilHealth. Kaya napaka- importante yong membership registration dahil eto lang po yung basis natin.”

(In order to avail of the PhilHealth services and benefit packages, we need to be registered members first.  That is why membership registration is very important as this is our only basis.)

He highlighted the strategic efforts and massive campaigns of the regional office on the said membership registration, despite the archipelagic state of the region.

“In order for us to increase our contribution to PhilHealth membership registration in the region, we provided PhilHealth offices in the island areas  that were once deprived of our services,” he said.

“We established offices in Siargao Island to cater to its nine municipalities and the Province of Dinagat Islands with seven towns. Our fellow Caraganons in these areas no longer have to travel by sea to avail of our benefit packages,” the vice president added.

To ensure PhilHealth registration extends to remote and far-flung areas in the region, PhilHealth actively joins in the different service caravans spearheaded by various government agencies and stakeholders.

Citing an example,  PhilHealth participated in the  Serbisyo Caravan, or Government-on-Wheels, of the local government of Lingig in Surigao del Sur in far-flung Barangay Palo Alto, which benefited over 200 residents in the place.  

PhilHealth’s provincial office in Surigao del Norte went as far as Barangay. Gacepan, and Sison and conducted membership registration for indigenous peoples (IP) community as part of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Caraga Service Caravan Kalinga Alay sa Katutubo.

“We do not wait for clients to come to us; we bring our services to them regardless of location. On top of that, membership registration is also conducted in areas with foot traffic, just like in malls, among others,” Hernandez shared.

PhilHealth Caraga and its satellite offices have intensifed the conduct of membership registration ton the barangays especially in remore and far-flung areas during serbisyo caravan. Photo courtesy of PhilHealth Caraga.

The key official promised to achieve 100 percent PhilHealth membership registration in the region before the end of the term of the current administration under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

He further relayed in Kapihan sa PIA its recent increase of 30 percent to all existing benefit packages of PhilHealth, including their new packages on stroke, pneumonia, and outpatient mental health, as they continuously expand their comprehensive healthcare services from basic primary care to catastrophic packages and to make the benefits even more responsive to the changing medical care needs of the Filipino people.

“Rest assured that PhilHealth is more than willing to provide the highest and maximum coverage to all our members at all times. We have different channels like PCares, Malasakit employees, a 24/7 hotline, or our nearest office where members and their families can reach out for immediate assistance,”  Hernandez said.

The Kapihan sa PIA serves as a significant platform for the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) to disseminate government programs and projects to the grassroots.

For PIA Caraga, Kapihan sa PIA, in partnership with SM City Butuan, is a monthly activity that is participated in by the media partners. The episode is also aired live on the Facebook page of the Philippine Information Agency Caraga and its provincial Facebook pages. (RLE/PIA-Caraga)