AS REPORTED by this paper recently, Western Visayas has reached an impressive 96.74 percent PhilHealth registration rate — a milestone that signals strong progress toward universal health coverage. But behind that celebratory number lies a more urgent question:
Who are the remaining 3.26 percent?
In a region with more than eight million people, that fraction represents thousands of individuals — not statistics, but families. They are the ones who may still face medical emergencies without the safety net of health insurance. And they are likely not evenly distributed across urban centers. They are probably in the margins.
Are they informal workers without steady documentation? Seasonal farm laborers who move from town to town? Fisherfolk in remote coastal barangays? Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities in upland areas? Residents of geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) where government services arrive last — or sometimes not at all?
Universal coverage cannot claim success while leaving the hardest-to-reach behind.
Experience tells us that those outside the system are often those already vulnerable — the poor, the elderly without formal records, the transient, the undocumented, the geographically isolated. In remote sitios, the nearest PhilHealth office may require hours of travel. Enrollment may mean sacrificing a day’s wage. Requirements may be unclear or intimidating. In some cases, the uninsured may not even know they are eligible.
This is where the next phase of healthcare reform must focus: precision outreach.
Registration campaigns must go beyond press briefings and urban centers. They must reach upland barangays in Antique, island communities in Guimaras, hinterland villages in Aklan, and coastal sitios in Iloilo and Capiz. Mobile registration units, partnerships with local governments, barangay health workers, and IP leaders must become the frontlines of inclusion.
Data should guide strategy. The region must identify which municipalities have the lowest coverage rates and why. Is it distance? Documentation barriers? Lack of awareness? Language gaps? Each cause demands a tailored solution.
True universality is not achieved when coverage is “almost” complete. It is achieved when no one is left outside the circle of protection.
The remaining 3.26 percent may be small on paper, but in moral terms, they matter greatly. A health system is measured not only by how many it serves, but by how it treats the most difficult to reach.
Western Visayas has proven it can mobilize millions to register. The next challenge is to pursue the last mile with the same intensity — until every farmer, fisherfolk, market vendor, transport worker, IP elder, and remote barangay resident is equally protected.
Universal health coverage should mean exactly that: universal.
Not nearly universal. Not statistically sufficient. But complete.
