Legislative Information Tracking and Administration System

WHEREAS, cognizant of the fact that it is the declared policy of the State to adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all people at affordable cost, by virtue of Section 11, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution;

WHEREAS, bearing in mind that the provision of basic health services and facilities is one of the core duties and functions vested upon all local government units (LGUs), and that LGUs may group themselves, consolidate or coordinate their efforts, services, and resources for purposes commonly beneficial to them, by virtue of Section 33 of R.A. No. 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991;

WHEREAS, conscious to this endeavor to integrate local health systems into province-wide and city-wide health systems, where city-wide health systems pertain to highly urbanized cities or independent component cities (HUCs/ICCs), to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of population-based and individual-based health services by virtue of Section 19 of R.A. No. 11223, or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act of 2019;

WHEREAS, recognizing that the UHC Act seeks to address health system fragmentation and to reorient the health system towards primary health care, primarily through the integration of local health systems into province-wide or city-wide health systems;

WHEREAS, acknowledging and supporting the firm commitment of the City Government of San Juan to improve the overall management of its local health systems, in coordination with civil society and non-health agencies, towards ensuring equitable access to quality and affordable health care and financial risk protection of the people they serve, guaranteeing, decent income, career advancement opportunities, and job security and satisfaction of its health care workers; and assuring health care payers of provider compliance with quality and performance standards;

WHEREAS, considering the earnest intent of the City Government of San Juan to operationalize and fully implement all local system reforms endeavored in the UHC Act, particularly those in relation to city-wide health systems integration, the establishment and management of a Special Health Fund, and the shift to network-based contracting of health care providers, as a strategy to achieve its health system aims;

WHEREAS, understanding the DOH mandate to provide for technical and financial support, as appropriate and in consideration of the available budget, to LGUs that commit to city-wide integration;

WHEREAS, perceiving the need to integrate the strategic financing initiatives of PhilHealth to support the functions of LGUs in providing quality health care at all levels of the health system;

WHEREAS, taking account of the six-year transition period given to LGUs that commit to city-wide integration, as provided for by the UHC Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), wherein managerial and technical integration is expected to be demonstrated in the first three years (2020-2022), and financial integration to be exhibited within the nest three years (2023-2025) thereafter;

WHEREAS, convinced that this Memorandum of Understanding facilitates the fulfillment of the activities, outputs, and outcomes for the success of an integrated city-wide health system, where applicable, that delivers effective, and efficient services for seamless, high quality, and affordable health care;

WHEREAS, the City Legal Officer has certified that the MOU is in order and not contrary to existing laws, rules and regulations;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF THE CITY OF SAN JUAN, AND BY VIRTUE OF THE POWERS VESTED IN IT BY LAW, in a session duly assembled, to authorize the City Mayor Francisco Javier M. Zamora, to enter into a MOU with DOH and PhilHealth of the implementation of the Universal Health Care Integration Sites.

RESOLVED FURTHER, that the authority, issuance and approval hereof is subject to certain restrictions and to all existing laws, circulars, rules and regulations.