Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

224
HOUSE BILL No.

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,
BAYAN MUNA Party-List Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
Rep. FERDINAND GAITE and Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. SARAH JANE |. ELAGO

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR FREE HEALTH SERVICES TO ALL FILIPINOS IN ALL GOVERNMENT
HOSPITALS, TREATMENT REHABILITATION CENTERS AND SANITARIA,
RURAL HEALTH UNITS, AND BARANGAY HEALTH CENTERS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The people's right to health is one of the most basic human rights that should
be assured to every Filipino, especially the poor and marginalized who comprise
majority of the Philippine population. To ensure this to farmers and peasants, the
urban poor, minimum wage workers and middle-level employees, and even
underpaid professionals such as teachers, government should maintain a free and
accessible public health care system—one that does not push them to pay for such a
basic social service and not drive them deeper into poverty.

Unfortunately, the trends of heightened privatization of the health sector and
increased out-of-pocket expenses have overtaken the need of the people for free
health services.

Out-of-pocket health expenses incurred by Filipinos continue to rise through
the years, reaching ®372.8 billion in 2017 and accounting for 54.5% of the Current
Health Expenditures (CHE) per household, according to the Philippine National Health


Accounts (PNHA) released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2018. This is
an increase of 8.8% on an annual basis. Half or 50.1% of the OOP—which include
medicines and other medical products, outpatient medical care, dental care,
diagnostic services, and hospital care—go to pharmacies. Families pay more than a
fourth of the OOP (97.5 billion) to private general hospitals and 13.5% (P97.5
billion) to ambulatory care or outpatient care.

In contrast to this, government schemes and compulsory contributory health-
care financing schemes account for only 33% of CHE (225.9 billion), says the PSA.
Another study points out that the per capita health expenditure for Filipinos in 2011
amounted to P6,090 in real terms. From 1991 to 2011, OOPs have increased at a
faster rate than government spending, at annual averages of 6.3% and 3.9%,
respectively.”

This means that families buy most of medicines and secure health services
from private drugstores, hospitals, and clinics rather than public health institutions.

People being forced to go to the private sector for check-ups, hospitalization,
medicines, and other health needs is a major cause of affliction of household
members to communicable diseases, noncommunicable diseases, other health
conditions, and death.

This measure proposes to bring our hospitals, rural health units, barangay
centers, and other health institutions closer to the people, by ensuring free health
services and therefore cutting drastically the out-of-pocket health expenses of
households. This follows the victory of the long-standing campaign for free tertiary
education which reversed the policy of tuition-paying as a general rule in state
universities and colleges and technical-vocational institutions—a victory this bill
hopes to echo. Indeed, if government can do it for the fundamental right to
education, it can—and should—do the same for the people’s basic right to health.

This is a better solution than further budget cuts for hospitals and other health
institutions, heavy reliance on and funding for health insurance, devolution of health
services, corporatization and privatization of the health sector—all of which have
crippled our public hospitals, the rest of the public health system, and the poor and
marginalized sectors who rely on them.

+ Analysis of Out-of-Pocket Expenditures in the Philippines, PIDS, 2012, Ulep and Dela Cruz


For these reasons, passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

Rep. FRA! L 0 Rep. CARLOS Efe T. ZARATE

ACT Teachers P% -List BAYAN MUNA Party-List
fep. FERDINAND GAITE Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT
BAYAN MUNA Party-List BAYAN MU! rty-List
Mh fore-
Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS Rep/SARAH JANE |. ELAGO

GABRIELA Women’s Party \N Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

224
HOUSE BILLNo.____

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,
BAYAN MUNA Party-List Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
Rep. FERDINAND GAITE and Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. SARAH JANE |. ELAGO

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR FREE HEALTH SERVICES TO ALL FILIPINOS IN ALL GOVERNMENT
HOSPITALS, TREATMENT REHABILITATION CENTERS AND SANITARIA,
RURAL HEALTH UNITS, AND BARANGAY HEALTH CENTERS

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as “The Free Health Services for the
People Act.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to
protect and promote the right to health of the people.

SECTION 3. Free public health services in all government hospitals and health
facilities. - All public health services rendered to patients and individuals with
health-related needs in all government hospitals, treatment rehabilitation centers
and sanitaria, rural health units, and barangay health centers shall be made free of
charge.

For purposes of this Act, a government hospital pertains to a general hospital
owned, established, and created by law devoted to clinical, emergency, outpatient,


and ancillary and support services, as well as a specialty hospital devoted to the
diagnosis and treatment of particular diseases. A government hospital may be under
the supervision of an agency of national government such as the Department of
Health (DOH), the Department of National Defense (DND), the Philippine National
Police (PNP), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), or operated by state universities
and colleges (SUCs), government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), or local
government units (LGUs).

Health services include but are not limited to consultation, confinement,
medicines, and laboratory, diagnostic, and all other hospital services.

SECTION 4. Implementation. — The Department of Health shall ensure compliance by
the concerned hospitals and facilities of the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 5. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the initial
implementation of this Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriation
of the agency having supervision over the hospital. Thereafter, the amount necessary
for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act.

The Department of Budget and Management shall include in the annual
national expenditure program the proposals of the concerned hospitals and health
institutions for budgets of maintenance and other operating expenses and capital
outlay necessary to extend to their patients the free services provided under this Act.

SECTION 6. Separability Clause. - If for any reason any section or provision of this
Act is declared unconstitutional, other provisions hereof which are not affected
thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SECTION 7. Repealing Clause. - Any Laws, decrees, or laws, decrees, or rules and
regulations which are inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act are
hereby amended or repealed.

SECTION 8. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from the
publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,