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| Sen. Tito Sotto explained that his proposal would amend Republic Act No. 7875, the law that created PhilHealth, and classify rehabilitation centers as "health care providers. |
"Sen. Tito Sotto has filed Senate Bill No. 8 mandating state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to include treatment for drug addiction among its 'personal services,'" reports Marlon Ramos in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Sotto explained that his proposal would amend Republic Act No. 7875, the law that created PhilHealth, and classify rehabilitation centers as "health care providers.
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Sotto, a former head of the Dangerous Drugs Board, was quoted as saying, "The problem of illegal drugs and drug abuse can’t be solved by law enforcement alone. Instead, it should be accompanied with preventive education, prosecution and rehabilitation."
Sotto pointed out that "the high cost of rehabilitation 'discourages' families of drug users from sending their loved ones for professional treatment." The senator cited the results of a 2009 survey revealing that "only 2,000 out of some 1.7 million drug users received medical assistance to treat their addiction."
For his part, PhilHealth president Alex Padilla said the agency was "considering including the treatment for drug addiction in its services." However, nothing's definite yet.
Then again, Padilla said, "Another consideration is the funds. If, for example, we have 1.7-million drug dependents, multiply it by PHP30,000 for each of them, so that’s about PHP50 billion. Where will we get that big amount? What we have now is the premium contributions, but it will not be enough if we also spend for drug dependents."
