LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN—One of the country’s biggest cities has expressed interest in replicating Governor Ramon V. Guico III’s legacy project, the GUICONSULTA (Government Unified Incentives for Medical Consultations).
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has announced her plan to enroll all the city’s residents in the Konsulta package of the Philippine Health Insurance to make healthcare affordable for her constituents. Quezon City has a population of 2.96 million, the Philippine Statistics Agency reported in 2020.
During the last quarter of 2024, Gov. Guico launched the Guiconsulta which started a massive registration aimed at enrolling two million Pangasinenses to PhilHealth’s Konsulta program.
Before the governor assumed his post as chief executive in July 2022, some 30,000 Pangasinenses have been enrolled in the Konsulta program.
“Mahigit 1 milyong kababayan natin ang na-enroll na po sa Philhealth Konsulta. Napabilis ang prosesong ito dahil sa kaakibat na programa – ang Pangasinan GUICONSULTA (Government Unified Incentives for Medical Consultation). Bagamat pilit na siniraan nitong nakaraang eleksyon at naging target ng matinding fake news, naninindigan po tayo na ito ang tamang programa para makamit natin ang pagiging pinakamalusog na probinsya sa buong bansa at magkaroon ng libreng “medical services” para sa lahat ng ating provincial hospitals,” Governor Guico said.
The Konsulta package is a free outpatient benefit package that covers consultation, health screening and assessment, some selected laboratory and diagnostics tests as well as selected drugs and medicines to be availed at chosen Philhealth-accredited facilities or hospitals.
Philhealth Regional Vice President Dennis B. Adre earlier said that there was not a single centavo released by their agency to the provincial government.
To hit the two million goal, the provincial government allotted PhP300 to every enrollee to cover transportation and food expenses in going to the registration center within their community.
“It was a big chellenge for us, it seems to be impossible but this is very-very possible,” said Gov. Guico in a mix of Filipino and English as he added that Konsulta plus Guiconsulta will serve as the backbone of a sustainable healthcare program for Pangasinan.
In November 2024, the governor encouraged all health workers in the province to join hands to fast track a ‘community (barangay)-based’ registration.
The registration was undertaken by a pool of health workers that came from the Provincial Health Office (PHO), Provincial Hospital Management Service Office (PHMSO), and from the province’s 14 government hospitals. It was an effort in coordination with all Rural Health Units (RHUs, LGUs and all barangay health workers.\
With what was achieved only in several months, Gov. Guico and the entire ‘Team Ang Galing,’ take the utmost pride that the once ‘vilified program’ has inspired other local government units beside Quezon City to make it their model project.
(Ruby F. Rayat/PIMRO)
