Falling ill doesn’t just point to several days in bed, feeling miserable, and missing work or school; it also means shelling out money for the doctor’s fee, medicines, laboratory works, or hospital confinement. Mild diseases may not cause a huge dip in your savings, but critical illnesses, such as cancer and stroke, or a condition that requires surgery, may put you and your family in a financial crisis. To help ease the burden, here’s how you can find medical assistance in the Philippines.
Office of the President
Should you wish to request medical assistance in the Philippines, the Office of the President provided the following contact details:
Contact No. : 8-2498310 loc. 8175 or 8182, 8-736-8645, 8-736-8603, 8-736-8606, 8-736-8629, 8-736-8621,
Telefax 8-736-8621
Email Address: [email protected]
Office of the Vice President (OVP)
The Office of the Vice President can provide medical assistance in the Philippines since it has Memorandum of Agreement with multiple private and government hospitals, private dialysis centers, and medical supplies and diagnostic centers.
The client can request assistance once a year but may not be eligible if they are in a private ward or private room by choice.
For the list of institutions affiliated with the OVP, requirements, and medical assistance form, you can refer to this page.
Senate Public Assistance Office
To still be of service to the people, the Senate Public Assistance Office has launched the online application for medical assistance in the Philippines.
The procedure mainly involves preparing the Medical Assistance Form, necessary requirements, and a personal letter addressed to the senator (email). Afterward, send them to the senator’s email address. People who cannot submit their application online may still submit them to the dropbox located at the senate entrance gate.
The list of requirements and the email addresses of the senators can be found here.
The DOH’s Medical Assistance Program
If you’re in need of medical assistance in the Philippines, you might want to look into the Department of Health’s Medical Assistance Program (MAP).
Eligible beneficiaries include those who are seeking consultation, examination, rehabilitation, or otherwise confined in government hospitals regardless of room category.
Generally, the DOH has partnerships with various hospitals. If the hospital has already received funds for MAP (Retained Health Facilities with Downloaded Funds), you can ask for financial medical assistance directly from the facility. The hospital will then process everything.
For non-DOH hospitals and those without downloaded funds yet, you may ask for assistance from the MAP Unit.
Note that the program doesn’t release funds directly to the patients and that professional fees are not covered.
For the list of facilities involved in the MAP, refer to this page.
