PCSO trims procedure for financial-aid requests

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has introduced a streamlined procedure for its Individual Medical Assistance Program (Imap) that eliminates the interview portion of requests for financial assistance.Patients who request it will no longer be required to have face-to-face interviews with PCSO social workers. A revised Imap form will gather the data necessary for the socioeconomic evaluation of patients.

“We considered the feedback of our clients, and came up with this streamlined procedure that will make it faster and easier for applicants to receive the help they need,” PCSO Vice Chairman and General Manager Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II said.

The revised Imap forms will be available at hospitals partnering with the PCSO under the charity agency’s At Source Ang Processing (Asap) program, and at its Charity Assistance Department at its extension office at the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) in Quezon City.

The elimination of interviews will significantly cut processing time for applicants to the Imap, which provides financial assistance for hospitalizations and surgeries; treatments, including dialysis and chemotherapy; prosthetics and implants; and other medical- and healthcare-related concerns. It will also reduce the long queues of patients at the PCSO’s LCP office.

The streamlined procedure falls under the Asap program that establishes PCSO help desks in private and public hospitals. The first to sign up for Asap was St. Luke’s Medical Center in April, joined in July by 13 public hospitals. Other hospitals have signified their interest to participate in the program.

The PCSO desk at partner-hospitals is manned by a social worker of the hospital who is trained by the PCSO in request evaluation and recommendation. The papers are then forwarded to the PCSO for processing. This arrangement makes it easier and more convenient for applicants to submit their paperwork, and makes it faster for PCSO personnel to process the requests.

The Imap was first implemented in 1995 to respond to the needs of indigent Filipinos for affordable health and medical care. As of August 31, the Imap has assisted 158,063 individuals for a total amount of P4.38 billion.

Under the current board of directors that assumed office in 2010, the Imap is continuously being improved.

From P4 million a day in Imap assistance in 2010, the PCSO is now approving P18.5 million a day in requests.

Today, it takes only three days for the release of PCSO guarantee letters for financial assistance of P100,000 or less, and four days for those above P100,000.

Also, PCSO tie-ups with suppliers give a 20-percent discount off the prevailing market price for medicines for PCSO beneficiaries, and dialysis and chemotherapy patients are enrolled in a program that automatically issues them assistance for as long as they need it.