Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro revealed in a press briefing on Wednesday that zero balance billing in Department of Health (DOH) hospitals nationwide is already being implemented.

Under the program, around 15,000 patients have already availed of the benefit just a few weeks after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. promised zero balance billing in his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28.

“According to the Department of Health, around 12,000 patients have availed of it at the Eastern Visayas Medical Center, while over 2,400 patients at the East Avenue Medical Center. Today, 78 DOH hospitals have already implemented zero balance billing,” Castro said.

Castro added that Marcos emphasized patients do not need to present any requirements to avail of the program.

“The President clarified that there will be no additional fees, no documents, and nothing more required from patients to avail of the said program in DOH hospitals, so that patients can focus solely on their recovery,” Castro said.

PTVs distributed

Meanwhile, a total of 1,173 Patient Transport Vehicles (PTVs) have already been distributed for use as ambulances. In Ormoc City, 124 PTVs were turned over, benefiting the towns of Abuyog, Jaro, Kananga, Matalom, and Santa Fe in Leyte.

In Samar, PTVs were distributed to the municipalities of Pulan, General MacArthur, Salcedo, San Policarpio, Lapinig, San Vicente, and Silvino Lobos.

Castro noted that the target is to distribute PTVs to a total of 1,642 cities and municipalities across the Philippines.