PhilHealth emerges as the leading Health Insurance provider

The 2022 NDHS results show that 73.0 percent of the population in the MIMAROPA Region has some form of health insurance coverage (Table A). This marks a 
6.1 percent increase from the 68.8 percent recorded in the 2017 survey. Notably, a significant proportion of the health insurance coverage was provided through PhilHealth, accounting for 69.4 percent.

Figure 1 shows the percentage of the household population in the MIMAROPA Region insured under specific PhilHealth membership categories. A total of 24.9 percent were dependents of nonpaying members, 21.1 percent were nonpaying members, 
12.1 percent were dependents of paying members, and 11.2 percent were paying members.

The next most common form of health insurance is the Social Security System (SSS) with 21.4 percent. The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and other type of insurance comes next, with 5.1 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. Private insurance and HMOs comes last with 1.4 percent. Both the SSS and GSIS provide social security benefits such as life insurance benefits, separation or retirement benefits, and disability benefits. The main difference is that the GSIS covers government workers only, whereas the SSS caters to individuals who are not government employees, who are self-employed, or who are not working.

Majority of individuals in MIMAROPA opt for public medical services over private care

Among individuals who visited a health facility or sought advice and treatment, 54.6 percent first consulted a public medical facility, while 45.4 percent first consulted a private medical facility.

COVID-19 testing most recognized, disease screening least familiar in MIMAROPA health programs

Almost half of the respondents (49.6%) reported awareness of free COVID-19 PCR testing and vaccination programs, while 45.9 percent were aware of free medicines and 34.2 percent were aware of free medical consultation. In contrast, familiarity with free disease screening and other health programs had the lowest percentage, with only 0.4 percent of respondents indicating awareness. This was closely followed by mental health programs (0.5%), medical assistance for hospitalization (0.8%), and free minor surgeries (0.9%). (Figure 2)

Regarding the utilization of local health programs, 32.3 percent of respondents availed any LGU-initiated health program. This was followed by free medicine programs at 14.8 percent, free COVID-19 PCR testing and vaccination at 11.8 percent, and free medical consultation at 8.7 percent. (Figure 2)

Drugstores as the preferred source of medicines for MIMAROPA households

The 2022 NDHS revealed that 68.1 percent of households in the MIMAROPA Region reported purchasing medicine from various sources. (Figure 3 and Table 4)

Among the locations where respondents commonly purchased medicines and vitamins, drugstores emerged as the primary choice with 78.3 percent, followed by sari-sari stores with 16.1 percent, barangay health stations with 1.2 percent, supermarkets or grocery stores with 1.1 percent, various other outlets with 1.1 percent, private hospitals with 1.0 percent, Rural Health Units (RHU) or urban health centers with 0.9 percent, and public hospitals with 0.3 percent. (Figure 4)
 

(SGD) LENI R. RIOFLORIDO
Regional Director

MLLM / RRL / LACB