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CITY of BALANGA, Bataan – “Health insurance can never be called universal if it does not cover all seniors. Enrolling them must be automatic, not optional. The ideal is that the minute they blow out the candles on their 60th birthday cake to the moment they breathe their last – they should be PhilHealth members.” These are the words of Sen. Ralph Recto, principal author of the Senate version of Republic Act (RA) 10645 otherwise known as “An Act Providing for the Mandatory PhilHealth Coverage for All Senior Citizens”.

Under RA 10645 or ” all citizens who are 60 years old and above will receive the benefits and discounts extended to ordinary PhilHealth members by just presenting a valid ID that proves their real age.

RA 10645 amends RA 994 or “The Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010” and removes the qualification that a senior citizen has to be an indigent or poor before qualifying for PhilHealth coverage, with premium payments fully subsidized by the national government coming from the so-called sin tax.
In simple ceremonies held this morning at the Bulwagan ng Bayan 2, around 300 senior citizens from all over the province participated in the ceremonial awarding of Member Data Records (MDR)s, signifying their automatic membership to Philhealth.

The program is spearheaded by the Provincial Government of Bataan under Gov. Abet S. Garcia thru the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO); in close coordination with the mayors of the 11 municipalities and 1 city; Philhealth; Board Member Rolando Z. Tigas, Chairman, SP Committee on Senior Citizens; the Bataan Federation of Senior Citizens and OSCA chairpersons from the entire province.

This is an offshoot of the saturation drive conducted by Philhealth in cooperation with the LGUs last December wherein at least 35,000 senior citizens were registered in the province. In Dinalupihan alone, Mayor Gila Garcia tapped the services of the Barangay Health Workers and they were able to register 5,000 senior citizens. To date, 9,000 MDRs are now ready for distribution among senior citizens province wide.

According to Mrs. Marilyn Tigas, PSWDO Head, this is a continuing program, hence they will not stop in tracking down all the senior citizens in the province so that they can be registered and enrolled in Philhealth. Ensuring that the senior citizens are taken care of and provided a secured and better quality of life is the government’s way of paying back the long years of service of these elderly to our society.