ABSTRACT
The Philippine government remains committed to providing universal access to basic healthcare and education, as mandated in the 1987 Constitution and evidenced in its support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In health, the government specifically aims to reduce the child and maternal mortality rates, the prevalence of underweight children, and the incidence of malaria and other major diseases. Through its “Fourmula One for Health,” the Department of Health (DOH) adopts key reform strategies in health financing, regulation, service delivery, and governance to provide secure, quality and equitable health services to all, particularly the poor (DOH 2008a). A major component of the strategy is to secure public funds to provide health insurance coverage to five million poor and near-poor households, aiming to reach the target of universal insurance coverage by 2013.
