DILG, Philhealth to give free health insurance to barangay officials

by Vency D. Bulayungan

Lagawe, Ifugao (16 August) — The Department of Interior and Local Government(DILG) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PHILHEALTH) will enter into a joint project that will provide free health insurance coverage for barangays officials and their families. This was announced by DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno during the recent Liga ng mga Barangay congress held in Baguio City.

About 175 barangays here will be covered with the said program because most have an Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) of not more than P1 million each. According to Anthony Ballug, the newly installed DILG Provincial Director here, almost all the barangays here belong to 4th or 5th class municipalities meaning most of the barangays here have an IRA ranging from P300,000.00 to P1M.

Ballug disclosed that if the project will be implemented, this will help a lot of the barangay officials including their families. Health is one of the most expensive concerns to be included in a families budget thus this will be a big help to them, he said.

Puno said that the benefit package which is implemented through a memorandum of understanding between DILG and Philhealth and the different leagues at the local level will prioritize those belonging to 4th to 6th class municipalities.

The health insurance benefits, which fall under the sponsored program of the Philhealth would be given to barangay officials as soon as the local government units concerned can provide the counterpart funding for the initiative. The annual premium for each beneficiary is P1,200.

Under the MOU, the national government through Philhealth will shell out P1,080 while the balance of 120 will be shouldered by the 4th to 6th class municipalities or province. (PIA-Ifugao)