Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta(PBA) party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles on Sunday called on the management of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to exclude from coverage all Covid-19 patients “who are found to have contracted the disease due to irresponsible and reckless behavior.”
He said he was “shocked” to see people flocking shopping malls and not observing proper social distancing as most of the country, including Metro Manila, shifted to a more relaxed form of the community quarantine on Saturday.
Nograles said that at the rate things are going, PhilHealth should set new guidelines in providing health care coverage for Covid-19 patients or it could end up wasting the contributions of its members to help “people who deliberately endanger themselves and their community.”
He said that patients who contracted the virus because of their own recklessness and irresponsible actions should forfeit their right for PhilHealth coverage.
“This is to warn the public that they will be on their own if they continue disregarding the guidelines set by the government to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus,” he added.
“Nagulat talaga ako dahil parang wala na yung Covid-19 noong makita ko sa TV ang mga tao sa malls. Napakaraming pasaway! Kumpol-kumpol at balewala na ang social distancing. This only shows that many of our people are still underestimating the Covid-19 virus. We will pay for this with a second wave of infection,” Nograles said.
Nograles said that the country, especially Metro Manila, should now prepare for the second wave of infection because of the people’s “wanton disregard” for the social distancing protocols and other public health standards set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
“From what I saw during the weekend, it seems to me that people have totally forgotten that the virus is still out there without any vaccine and without any real cure,” he said.
“I really fear for the second the wave which could really jeopardize PhilHealth’s viability. PhilHealth should only help those who deserves to be helped,” Nograles said.
