PhilHealth ‘embraces’ members with more primary care benefits

TheMonitorMindanaoToday.com | PhilHealth ‘embraces’ members with more primary care benefits 

By: Uriel Quilinguing

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – With barely three months before 2025 ends, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has packed its calendar, setting the tone for what could be the implementation of the most comprehensive primary healthcare program so far – the Yaman sa Kalusugan (Wealth of Health) Program or Yakap which, in Filipino, means “embrace.”

PhilHealth Yakap, a rebranding of its five-year-old Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama (PhilHealth Konsulta), is set to be in full-blast in 2026 when PhilHealth Gamot (medicines) would also be formally launched as a vital component of primary healthcare, according to PhilHealth 10 Regional Vice President Delio Aseron II in a press conference on Tuesday, September 17, here.

Gamot is the acronym of Guaranteed and Accessible Medications for Outpatient Treatment package where PhilHealth allocates up to P20,000 worth of essential medicines for its member every year. This, in addition to PhilHealth Yakap’s free consultations and checkups to encourage every Filipino to be proactive of their health condition.

Aseron said 75 essential medicines have been identified under PhilHealth Gamot, from the 21 initially listed under PhilHealth Konsulta, thus 54 more have been added and these will be rolled out starting next year.

“What one saved for 10 years can be lost in a week due to sickness,” said Aseron, if only to emphasize the need for a paradigm shift—that everyone needs regular health checkup, at least once a year. And PhilHealth 10’s campaign is directed to its over 4.7 million members and their dependents in Northern Mindanao, as of August this year.

But only 2,573,505 residents of Northern Mindanao have registered under PhilHealth Yakap (Konsulta) and, as of June 2025, 443,840 of them have already availed of the primary health care benefits in 186 health facilities for outpatients.

In Misamis Oriental, all its 23 municipalities and two component cities have PhilHealth Konsulta/Yakap accredited health facilities, Local Health Insurance Officer Marlon Arrabaca, who heads PhilHealth Cagayan de Oro, said in his report.

Arrabaca said PhilHealth had paid over P121 million to 19 accredited PhilHealth Konsulta providers based in Cagayan de Oro for their services.

Launch on July 26, this year, PhilHealth Yakap provides package of benefits that include laboratory and diagnostic tests such as complete blood count, lipid profile, and fasting blood sugar. It also provides cancer screening tests — a key addition that covered mammograms and breast ultrasounds for early detection.

“Everything is super important until you are sick, then you realize there is only one thing that is most important – your health,” the PhilHealth 10 head concluded. (MT)

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