THE Department of Health is supporting proposals to raise the tobacco excise tax to P90 per pack to augment the proposed Universal Health Care law.
The UHC program aims to provide primary health care for all Filipinos and this will require P769.55 billion the first four years of its implementation, according to Health secretary Francisco Duque.
“Investing in UHC is actually a wise investment because it is investing in our people,” Duque told a news conference Wednesday. “Aside from the benefit of a healthier and more productive population, UHC is key to reducing poverty in our country, thus protecting Filipinos from the high cost of care. And to make UHC feasible, we are looking at the proposed increased in tobacco tax.”
Increasing the tobacco excise tax to P90 per pack from the current P35 will generate an estimated revenue of P37.2 billion, said Duque.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao has a bill proposing to raise tobacco excise tax rates to P60 per pack while Sen. JV Ejercito proposes that this be raised to P90.
Under the UHC, all Filipino families will be enrolled in PhilHealth, “protecting them from impoverishing cost of medical care,” Duque said.
It will also strengthen primary health care by matching families to a primary care provider that will ensure they get the appropriate health services they need at the appropriate health facilities, he added.
Moreover the UHC seeks to improve access to health services by ensuring the availability of medicines, health-human resources and health facilities to all Filipinos. It will also strengthen the capacity of government to regulate and exercise its policymaking function to ensure all Filipinos have access to health care services.
In addition the UHC will spell out which services are to be paid for by the DOH, the local government units and the PhilHealth.
Duque said the executive branch proposed that population-based services be financed by the DOH and local government units while individual-based services be financed through a “national purchaser,” which is the PhilHealth.
“This means all funds intended for medical services are pooled into PhilHealth, thus also allowing them to have adequate negotiating power over health care providers and selectively contract those who abide by agreed quality and cost containments,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has certified the UHC as a priority bill. (ABS-CBN News)
