DOH offers free Philhealth membership to seniors even after retirement

Senior citizens may get free membership in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) even after they retire, the Department of Health said Tuesday.

DOH Secretary Enrique Ona announced this as various government agencies marked Elderly Filipino Week to improve the quality of life and well-being of the elderly.

“As a token of the government’s appreciation for our elderly, Philhealth is providing our senior citizens free membership after retirement, and we hope to improve on their benefit packages soon,” Ona said.

“With the latest trend that shows the increasing number of older persons and their longer life expectancy, the DOH’s goal is to improve their quality of life by continuously developing a progressive older person health program,” he added.

He said the goal is to provide senior citizens with affordable and quality health care services while maintaining their self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Presently, the DOH said there are about seven million citizens aged 60 or older, accounting for 6.9 percent of the total population. Of these, 1.3 million are indigent.

In 1995, the number of Filipinos aged 60 or older was 3.7 million or for 5.4 percent of the population.

Their ranks increased to 4.8 million or six percent of the population in the 2000 census. — BM, GMA News