PhilHealth provides 75 free medicines worth P20,000 annually per beneficiary

Beneficiaries of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. may each avail of up to P20,000 worth of outpatient medicines yearly under its Guaranteed and Accessible Medications for Outpatient Treatment (PhilHealth GAMOT), a comprehensive outpatient drug benefit package that covers essential medicines.

The program includes 75 types of free medicines with an annual benefit limit of Php 20,000 per beneficiary.

The medicines include common treatments for a wide range of conditions, such as infections (anti-microbial), asthma and COPD, diabetes, high cholesterol (dyslipidemia), high blood pressure, and heart conditions (cardiology), and nervous system disorders, along with other supportive therapies.

The free medicine will be available for members in registered PhilHealth YAKAP Clinics, which will issue a prescription with a Unique Prescription Security Code (UPSC) that may be accepted un the following GAMOT Facilities:

• Vidacure with branches in Muntinlupa City and Quezon City
• Pharma Gen Ventures Corp (Generika Drugstore) with branches in Parañaque City, Navotas City, Quezon City and Taguig City
• CGD Medical Depot Inc. at Vertis North
• Chinese General Hospital

“Noong 2023, nailunsad na natin ang PhilHealth GAMOT ngunit ito ay naisagawa lamang sa iilang probinsya. Kaya naman ngayon mas pinalawak na natin ito. Karapatan ng bawat Filipino na magkaroon ng access sa mga kinakailangang gamot nang hindi pinapasan ang mabigat na gastusin mula sa sariling bulsa,” PhilHealth Acting President and CEO Dr. Edwin M. Mercado said.

(In 2023, we launched PhilHealth GAMOT but this was only implemented in certain provinces. Now, we have expanded it further. It is the right of every Filipino to have access to their needed medicine without bearing the heavy burden of spending their own money.)

PhilHealth GAMOT is a key part of the PhilHealth YAKAP Program, which President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. announced in his recent State of the Nation Address, underscoring this Administration's vision of a healthier Philippines. –Jiselle Anne Casucian/NB, GMA Integrated News