[OPINION] We are the 'new poor'
“Hi sir Cito. May I call you?”
I knew the sender and he is one of those people who seldom calls unless it’s important or necessary. Considering my circle of friends, I generally assume the person is going to ask for advise on a personal or spiritual matter.
Yes, that is one of the signs that you’re officially “mature,”“getting on in years” or have become wise as you aged, with emphasis on “aged.” I remind myself that it is a privilege to gain such trust or confidence that people are willing to share their pain or fear.
My friend called because his son requires surgery within the week and after a “Go-No/Go-Go” process, the doctor wants to cut and remove gall stones from his son.
Like many middle-class Filipinos, they can no longer afford the commercial rates charged by physicians and hospitals. The professional fee of the surgeon was P160,000 and they are still preparing for the aftershock charges of the hospital.
The parents have pooled their resources in terms of HMO, savings, even soliciting help from the LGU and I think DSWD. But all that would not be enough when the total is summed up.
So, my friend is staring at the dire possibility of burning their credit cards and kiss Christmas celebrations goodbye! He reached out in desperation to ask for any amount of help that our discipleship group might be willing to give just to lessen his load.
This situation is all too common and true for many Filipinos, even for those working in the corporate world. We want the best for our loved ones and ourselves, so we instinctively rush to the well-known and well-marketed private hospitals.
Unfortunately, we have misled ourselves into believing that HMOs, PhilHealth and savings will cover the cost of minor to medium-type surgery. Sorry, they no longer do.
People now pay several hundred thousand to several million pesos, with no guarantee of full recovery. We are forced to “ransom” family because we are emotional hostages at the mercy of private health practitioners.
It was honestly painful and humbling to hear my friend ask for financial assistance and to learn that he even approached the LGU for “indigent assistance” that Cong. Tractors have been using for their glorification.
I advised my friend to seriously consider going to my favorite government hospital, the Rizal Medical Center, since he was a resident of Pasig.
In case some readers missed the article, yes I was confined at the ICU of the Rizal Medical Center for three days due to Atrial Fibrillation or AFIB. The care and expertise were superb and even as a regular paying patient the rates were below affordable.
None of us want to take away resources from indigents and the poorest of the poor, but when corporate employees can no longer afford private hospital charges and doctor’s fees, we have become “The New Poor.”
How else do you define it? You have to sell your allegiance to the company for HMO coverage, you humiliate yourself lining up for the pittance that PCSO extends, you go to the LGU with a begging bowl for P15,000 to P30,000 maybe, and for the next six months to a year you learn what it’s like to be “poor” because of credit card debts.
In the final chapter you max out credit cards, sell cars or hock your land title for emergency medical loan. And while you are doing it, private hospitals and GOCC hospitals bill you by the day as if you were an ATM machine.
My friend and his family still has to decide if they go to “public” or suffer the consequential indignities of going to a private hospital. Either way, our group will surely help out.
So, what should all of us learn and do about the situation?
For starters, guys like Secretary Ted Herbosa should “raise the bar” and change the reputation of government hospitals as “hospitals for the poor.”
Malacañang and the DOH should work at improving the reputation of public hospitals and show the public that things have improved over the decades. Even the media should do its part to make up for the negative portrayal of government hospitals and public health.
Government hospitals should be built and run as proper hospitals for all Filipinos and by that I mean don’t squeeze them to fit. We always talk about lack of beds and rooms because we squeeze hospitals into lots that are too small or not ideal for hospitals.
Make more rooms and increase beds for paying patients as well as improve laboratory services by applying correct planning, project management and future proofing based on population growth and aging and sustainable funding.
The perfect example is how the Philippine government improved public schools, made salaries highly competitive thereby convincing many parents that it was alright to transfer their children to public from private!
The Department of Health should take ownership of its infrastructure. Working with counterpart agencies such as the DPWH, DILG or LGU may be necessary.
But as Secretary Herbosa now realizes, ownership and control must be fiercely defended and done by the DOH. Raise the bar, make public hospitals good for all Filipinos, regardless of status.
If the DepEd did it, so can the DOH!
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Editor's note: This article originally appeared in The Philippine STAR.
