Ed Angara's Priority Bills Series
ANGARA BATS FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM

Children of low-income families need not die unnecessarily for lack of doctor or medicine.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara, father of the Senior Citizen's Act and PhilHealth Act is extending his support to children.

As part of his priority agenda, the Senator filed a bill creating the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that would complement the existing National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) or PhilHealth.

CHIP will provide children aged 6 and below with a full range of health services like regular checkups, immunizations, prescription drugs, dental and eye care, among others. Children of indigent parents will receive free health insurance coverage.

"Poor families usually forego health care and use their meager resources for food, " Angara lamented.

A World Bank report states that infant and mortality rates for babies below 5 years old are 2.3-2.7 times higher for household in the poorest groups in the country. Among pre-school age children, the national estimates for the prevalence of malnutrition reveal that 31 out of 100 children are underweight and 33 out of 100 among school-age children. A national government survey indicates 3 out of 10 children age 12-23 months have not received the recommended vaccinations.

With the CHIP, access to health services will now be extended to children, one of the most uninsured members of our population.

"We need to make our children not only dependents of health insurance but beneficiaries themselves," he added.

"This program will rescue our young population from a health crisis, and will meet one of the most important needs of the underprivileged sector," he added.