Free optometric services, prescription eyeglasses to be included in PhilHealth benefits

The Integrated Philippine Association of Optometrists (IPAO) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will finalize by November 2024 the coverage guidelines for the inclusion of free optometric services and prescription eyeglasses in PhilHealth’s coverage.

This came on the heels of a commitment signed by health secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa and PhilHealth president and chief executive Emmanuel R. Ledesma, Jr. in response to AGRI party list representative Wilbert T. Lee’s interpellation at the Lower House’s budget deliberations.

Filed on March 5, House Resolution No. 1623 proposes the state health insurer include optometric services worth up to P4,000 in a benefit package.

“HR No. 1623 paved the way and advocated for Filipinos’ right to comprehensive optometric services and free prescription eyeglasses to improve productivity and reduce the financial burden of the Filipinos,” said Dr. Charlie L. Ho, IPAO chairman, in an October 21 press statement.

“The timelines are tight,” he added, “but everyone is working to ensure that everything remains on track and that PhilHealth’s coverage for preventive eye care and optometric services becomes successful and would benefit all its members.”

IPAO estimates that about 28 million Filipinos have presbyopia or farsightedness.

The 2018 Philippine Eye Disease Study showed that 9% of kindergartners are affected with visual impairment. The number rises to 16% by high school, with 90% of the cases being myopia or nearsightedness.

The April 2021 Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health report stated that 90% of vision loss can be prevented or treated if detected early.

Eye health is essential to achieving many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the commission said. It contributes to an individual’s overall health and wellbeing, social inclusion, and quality of life.

“Several Filipinos visit their eye care professionals only when vision loss begins to manifest or when it’s too late for any intervention,” Dr. Ho said. “PhilHealth’s expanded program to cover preventive optometric services and prescription eyeglasses comes very timely as it will benefit millions of Filipinos.”

“If we’re talking about productivity, if we’re talking about food security, we should also be addressing the eye problems of our countrymen, and consider this as a primary healthcare issue,” Mr. Lee also said in his personal website. – Patricia B. Mirasol