According to a report on health spending released by the Philippine Statistics authority in late 2020, paying for one’s medical needs grew in the country by 11% in recent years.
On this spending, a staggering 48% of the expenses came from “household out-of-pocket”—meaning Filipinos have resorted to digging into their hard-earned savings or worse, turning to loans from well-meaning family, to be able to pay for the cost of hospitalization or other medical expenses that they did not have the capacity to cover.
In a separate report from the National Economic Development Authority, it was cited that 96% of Filipinos are concerned about their own and their family’s health, but only 16% are prepared to pay for medical costs. But it does not have to be this way.
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