30 October 2012, Business Mirror
by Dr. Eduard P. Banzon of PhilHealth
FROM October 23 to 25, the Asian Development Bank organized and hosted “PPP in Health Manila 2012”—a regional conference on public-private partnerships for health. It is wonderful to see the health sector is more consciously beginning to seize the power of PPP to deliver better health for all. I say “consciously” because health PPP isn’t really new in the country for PhilHealth is essentially a PPP.
As the implementer of the National Health Insurance Program, PhilHealth is meant to collect and channel public funds to “purchase” care from health- care providers, including those from the private sector. In addition, we recognize that given the enormity of the task of covering all Filipinos and ensuring their true financial-risk protection toward universal health coverage (UHC), we look at them as our allies.
What’s unique about the Philippine setting is that probably more than 60 percent of health care is delivered privately. While there are providers that are purely private, most of the time the delineation gets hazy as the two systems intertwine—we have government doctors who also maintain a private practice, and private rooms and private pharmacies within government hospitals. Given that access to facilities, essential medicines and health professionals is at the heart of UHC, it is necessary for our private partners to be onboard.
And there are many strategies for private sector to step in. Beyond infrastructure and equipment, they can provide actual services and support programs. A good model is Planet Drugstore, a private pharmacy operating inside Ospital ng Makati. Planet not only ensures drug supply for admitted patients, but provides pharmacy-management services, which is admittedly a weakness of not just the Philippines but many governments around the world. Upon providing medicines to patients, Planet gets reimbursements through PhilHealth and allotted funds from the city government of Makati.
At PhilHealth, PPP has provided support for our benefits and programs. To name a few, our partners from the pharmaceutical industry have agreed to provide significant discounts to our members. The private sector has supported many of our events and programs, including the 2.17.13 PhilHealth Nationwide Run and information-dissemination campaigns.
Going back to the conference, I liked the analogy used that PPP is like a marriage. Just as a couple works toward a common goal of making the marriage work or building/sustaining a family, PPP works in the same way. Both the public and private sectors invest in the relationship and share their resources toward a common goal—meeting the health needs of the Filipino people and attaining better health for all.
Both parties must recognize and respect each other’s uniqueness. Indeed, the private sector must be able to earn enough to cover their costs for an initiative to be sustainable. It is important to understand that financial viability is always a consideration. At the same time, the government pursues goals of equity and fairness, and is often called to extend preferential treatment to the poor who have many unmet needs. I’ve always believed that it is possible to find a sweet spot that balances these two goals, and it is in this spot that PPP actually thrives.
PPP means growing and learning from each other. Government can learn a lot from the innovative soul and entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector. At PhilHealth, I’m proud to say that our reforms revolve around imagination and innovation, which are keys to transcend the problems and bottlenecks that we encounter. We are also unafraid to step in where the market fails to provide the best outcome for our members. Contrary to popular thinking, government can be more efficient. This is why we’re now designing PhilHealth Plus, a supplementary health-insurance scheme that would allow our members to gain more from their membership at a more affordable price. Indeed, this is where private sector can learn from us.
I cannot emphasize enough that PPP is integral for UHC to happen. I hope the private sector would heed this call, as this golden opportunity to do something great for the nation is not without bounds. Let’s sit down and talk.
