DOH: P77 billion needed for allowances, benefits of health workers in 2023

The P20 billion set aside for the emergency benefits and allowances of healthcare workers in the proposed national budget for 2023 is short of what's needed to make the said entitlements sustainable, Department of Health officer in charge Ma. Rosario Vergeire said on Friday.

At a press briefing, Vergeire said the DOH would request Congress for additional funds for the emergency benefits and allowances next year.

“'Yun nga lang po medyo kulang po ito doon sa estimated funding requirement na atin pong nahingi sa kanila which was at P77 billion so that we can sustain providing our healthcare workers their benefits for 2023,” Vergeire said.

(It was a little short of the estimated funding requirement that we requested from them which was at P77 billion so that we can sustain providing our healthcare workers their benefits for 2023.)

“Tayo ay makikiusap sa ating Congreso kung maaring madagdagan para maipagpatuloy natin ang pagbibigay ng benepisyo sa ating mga healthcare workers,” she added.

(So that is one of the things we will ask the Congress if it can be increased so that we can continue providing benefits to our healthcare workers.)

Vergeire also asked for an additional budget for the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in order to expand their services accessible for the public.

She said the PGH sought a P6.1 billion funding for 2023 which is only for the operations and personal services only and not included for the expansion of their infrastructure and equipment.

“Kung tayo po ay dudulog at mapakikinggan sana po dagdagan pa rin po ang ating PGH ng karagdagang budget para mas maging efficient sila sa kanilang ginagawa mas makapagserbisyo sa maraming kababayan at maiexpand pa ang services para mas makaron ng access ang ating mga kababayan especially for highly technical services,” Vergeire said.

(If they will listen to us, we appeal to increase the budget of the PGH so that they can be more efficient in what they do, serve more people and expand services so that our people can have more access, especially for highly technical services.)

Meanwhile, the DOH OIC said among their priorities for the allocation of the proposed 2023 budget would be for the operations of the hospitals costing some P45 billion.

Vergeire said P24 billion would also be allocated for their public health programs and subsidies for tuberculosis, HIV, cancer, and mental health programs.

She said P23 billion would be allocated for the health facilities enhancement program including the medical requirements needed by the hospitals.

The DOH OIC said a P22 billion budget would be provided for medical assistance of the indigent patients.

Based on the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP) document, P195 billion was proposed for the DOH.

The proposed amount reflects a close to P8 billion increase from its P187.84 billion budget for the current fiscal year, according to the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted to the House of Representatives for deliberation.

It covers the budget of the Office of the Secretary, National Nutrition Council and the Philippine National AIDS Council.

The proposed budget was submitted to the House of Representatives on Monday, with deliberations targeted to be completed before October 1. —NB, GMA News