The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) on Friday encouraged Filipinos to make full use of the government’s expanded mental health care packages.

Under the state insurer’s New Outpatient Mental Health Package, PhilHealth members and non-members can receive P9,000 for the general mental health package and P16,000 for the specialty mental health package.

“One of the challenges we face in health is the mental health problem,” said PhilHealth vice president for Corporate Affairs Group Walter Bacareza during a media forum in Pasig City. “PhilHealth has answered the clarion’s call and we now have a mental health package.”

Bacareza also urged more doctors and general practitioners to undergo training under the state health insurer’s Mental Health Gap Action Program (mhGAP) to ensure wider accessibility.

“The challenge here is for our doctors and general practitioners to get trained in mhGAP at the Department of Health (DoH) so they can be accredited by PhilHealth,” said Bacareza as he also stressed the need for venues where young people can seek help for mental health problems.

Currently, the DoH has trained 3,000 doctors for the mhGAP, but only about 100 have been accredited so far by PhilHealth.

In addition to expanding benefits, Bacareza said PhilHealth has partnered with the Department of Education to address mental health problems among students, noting that a memorandum of agreement is already in place.

Bacareza also disclosed that PhilHealth has also increased and improved many other benefits to address the challenges facing the Philippine health system.