The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has increased the daily allocation of 40 of its branches across the country for its Individual Medical Assistance Program from P8.98 million to P13.55 million, general manager Alexander Balutan said on Thursday.
Balutan said the PCSO board approved the increase as it took effect immediately on Oct. 1.
The increase allows the agency to help more patients, as the IMAP provides daily financial support for medical expenses such as hospitalization of patients who will avail of the program.
“We increased the IMAP daily allocation as our branch offices have limited IMAP funds to cover the needs of its clients, resulting in delayed and inefficient delivery of services to the public,” Balutan said.
The PCSO board is still reviewing the allocations of 20 other branches and determining the availability of funds.
The daily IMAP allocation for the Southern and Bicol Region increased from P3.225 million to P4.05 million, while that of Northern and Central Luzon increased from P2.8 million to P4.55 million.
The Visayas region daily allocation increased from P1.9 million to P3.2 million, while the IMAP allocation for the Mindanao region rose from P1.055 million to P1.75 million.
Through the IMAP, the PCSO will guarantee the payment of health expenses, including hospital confinement, cancer treatment medicine, dialysis, transplant procedures, and cardiovascular procedures for availing patients, as well as medical and assistive devices, among others.
“The move is to cater the increasing numbers of patients who are seeking financial assistance from PCSO. We are doing our best to accommodate all of them as much as our funds permits,” Balutan said.
To hasten the release of guarantee letters, the GM said patients should submit to the PCSO complete documentation, including IMAP application form; medical abstract; valid identification card of patient and representative; authorization letter from patient in cases where there is no immediate relative available for interview; statement of account; endorsement from the medical social services of the health facility; and endorsement/certificate of acceptance of PCSO guarantee letter, among other documents.
