The Makati city government has come up with new guidelines for the Makati Health Plus Program, replacing the color-coded payment scheme with a uniform rate and extending for three years the validity of the MHP Card, more popularly known as the Yellow Card.
Yellow Card holders will no longer be classified into four color-coded categories based on the family’s monthly income. Instead, a uniform rate of P500 will be charged to patients with bills exceeding P5,000, even if the amount runs up to seven digits or higher. Patients whose bills are below P5,000 will be free of charge.
Members of the Makati Health Development Council crafted the revised guidelines last month with the approval of Mayor Abigail Binay, who proposed to extend the card’s validity to three years and grant lifetime membership to qualified residents.
The Yellow Card program provides city government-subsidized healthcare for residents, city hall workers and other qualified beneficiaries. Its benefits include free outpatient consultations, emergency and in-patient care at the city-run Ospital ng Makati (OsMak), free laboratory and diagnostic services at the hospital and satellite laboratories in barangay health centers, and monthly supply of free medicines.
“We want our residents, employees, senior citizens and other qualified beneficiaries to enjoy the convenience of using their Yellow Cards for a longer period. Extending the validity of the card to three years will allow Makatizens longer access to the city’s health care services before the next renewal period,” Binay said.
She added that that granting lifetime Yellow Card membership to qualified senior citizens and city government retirees was but a “well-deserved reward” for their loyalty to the city.
To qualify for lifetime membership, the applicant must be 60 to 69 years old and be able to submit a Certified True Copy of the latest Certificate of Non-Delinquency of Real Property Taxes, with the tax declaration bearing the applicant’s name.
For Makatizens aged 70 years and above, applicants for lifetime membership must have been a Yellow Card holder for the past six years, in addition to the requirement for those aged 60 to 69 years.
Retired Makati city government employees, regardless of residency and Comelec registration, will also be granted lifetime membership with the Yellow Card.
The MHDC has also extended the card’s validity to three years for registered voters and actual residents of Makati City, city government employees and senior citizens who are between 60 to 69 years old. The extension also applies to regular employees as well as casual employees who have served the city for more than six years.
In the past, Yellow Cards expired before the card holder’s birthday. This had to be renewed before the beneficiary could continue to avail of subsidized healthcare services at OsMak, at 26 barangay health centers, and three lying-in clinics run by the city government.
Meanwhile, Yellow Cards are valid for two years for casual city government employees who have been in service for five years, relocatees, and National Government employees who are assigned in Makati City.
On the other hand, Yellow Cards must be renewed annually by registered voters but non-Makati residents, as well as city government employees on job order, contractual, consultants and casual who have been in service for less than five years. This last group must regularly renew their Yellow Cards because of the temporary nature of their relationship with Makati City.
As of last December, the MHP had over 200,000 beneficiaries. Records of OsMak show that the hospital catered to 68,081 Yellow Card beneficiaries last year, composed of 13,792 in-patients, 54,289 emergency room patients, and 19,381 outpatients.
Previously, MHP members were classified into four categories based on their family’s monthly income, identified through a color-coded strip on the right-hand side of the Yellow Card.
In case of hospitalization (in-patient care) at OsMak, patients under MHP-I for the lowest income group (yellow) were free of charge for bills P5,000 and below, and were asked to pay a token P200-fee for bills over P5,000.
The other categories were granted discounts on their hospital bills, as follows: MHP-II (blue), 90 percent; MHP-III (green), 85 percent; and MHP-IV (red), 75 percent discount.
The Yellow Card Program of Makati is a recipient of the Dubai International Award for Best Practices presented by the Dubai Municipality and the UN-HABITAT in 2002 for its “Outstanding contribution towards improving the living environment.”
Access to Quality Health Care Services is one of the 10 main policy directives of the city government under the administration of Mayor Abby.
Besides extending the validity of Yellow Cards, Mayor Abby is laying the groundwork for the establishment of at least one fully-equipped health center for every cluster of barangays in both districts. This will give Makatizens 24/7 access to quality healthcare – especially during medical emergencies.
The present administration is also pushing for comprehensive immunization, sanitation, dental and nutrition programs all over the city.