As one of the most advanced hospitals in the country, it’s no surprise that healthcare services from the Makati Medical Center may not be affordable to low-income patients. One exception are residents of Makati City as they can take free diagnostics and therapeutics services in MMC that are not available at the public Ospital ng Makati (OsMak).

Makati’s Yellow Card holders or OsMak beneficiaries can also take laboratory tests for free and at any time at the Makati Life Medical Center (MLMC), a 360-bed hospital specializing on cancer and heart diseases. They can even get a free scan from MLMC’s artificial intelligence-powered digital PET/CT uMI 550 scanner. MLMC is the first hospital in the country to acquire such equipment.

Makati City’s free health services and subsidized hospitalization at the city-run OsMak are provided through its Yellow Card program.

“A Yellow Card-patient’s hospital bill can reach millions of pesos, but we only charge a token fee of P500,” Mayor Abby Binay told Filipino migrants in Rome that she met during her recent visit to the Italian city to attend the From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience Summit at the Vatican City.

Binay also said that free medicines — including for hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and uric acid, and heart and lung diseases — are provided to residents.

Dialysis sessions for kidney patients and insulin for diabetics are also free for Yellow Card holders.

“Senior citizens aged 70 and above are given their full dosage of maintenance medicines monthly, delivered directly to their homes,” she said.

Makati’s barangay health centers provide topnotch service, including immunization of newborns and adults. Shingles vaccine, which costs between P8,000 to P10,000 per dose, is also provided free to residents and their dependents.

Binay shared the reasons why Makati’s public health service program is successful.

“With strong political will and genuine commitment to public service, it is possible for ordinary citizens to have unhampered and unlimited access to quality health care,” the mayor said.

Taxes generated from the business sector, which form the bulk of the city’s income, sustains the comprehensive public health program of Makati, she added.