27 March 2025
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) are collaborating to provide poor and disadvantaged students in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and their families priority access to affordable primary healthcare services.
This is after Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Secretary Popoy De Vera, and PhilHealth President Edwin Mercado signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) recently for the integration of PhilHealth coverage for the beneficiaries of Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) and Tulong Dunong Program (TDP) of the CHED-UniFast headed by Executive Director Ryan Estevez, and mobilization SUCs as contact centers for health services.
The partnership will cover approximately five hundred thousand CHED-UniFAST TES and TDP beneficiaries because they belong from the poorest households listed in the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Listahan.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with PhilHealth in implementing projects that will help more Filipinos, particularly the underserved, access quality health services which is a priority project under the Marcos administration,” De Vera said.
“Our public universities and colleges collectively make up half of all the enrollment in higher education, the more than two hundred public universities account for more than two million students. By mobilizing our state universities, we can enroll more Filipinos to PhilHealth and further expand access to healthcare services,” De Vera added.
“The marching order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is to continue and expand the services of PhilHealth. One of our main focuses is on primary healthcare or ang konsepto ng Konsulta. The signing today with CHED and UP Manila is a way to expedite and expand the enrollment of the members of PhilHealth to Konsulta,” Mercado said.
The partnership will not only provide poor students and their families opportunity to enroll in PhilHealth and also access to primary healthcare services through the PhilHealth’s Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama program.
The PhilHealth Konsulta Package is a comprehensive outpatient benefit that includes consultation, health screening and assessment, laboratory tests, and medicines aimed at addressing the gaps in healthcare for the underserved populations.
The health facilities of SUCs will also be assessed and accredited as Konsulta Providers to facilitate quick delivery of comprehensive outpatient services.
University of the Philippines Manila, who assisted and joined the MOU signing between CHED and PhilHealth, will work with CHED to provide support and guidance to SUCs to meet the PhilHealth standards to become accredited Konsulta Providers.
The partnership will also streamline the claims process for Konsulta benefits and ensure the effective utilization of payments within schools and through LGUs.
(SIGNED)
J. PROSPERO E. DE VERA III
CHED Secretary