PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) chairperson Junie E. Cua has vowed to continue improving the agency’s processes to cut the lead time for the approval and release of medical assistance requests.
“Patuloy po nating pinag-aaralan kung ano pa ang pwedeng gawin, kung aling steps ang maaaring redundant na pwedeng tanggalin upang lalong mapabilis ang pag-release ng ating guarantee letters (We are reviewing how we can lessen the processing time and remove redundancies in the procedure so we can release the guarantee letters faster),” Cua said.
“We understand that there is an urgency to the need of our constituents, that’s why we are committed towards making the process more efficient, which is also in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call to improve the public’s access to healthcare,” he added.
Cua said that what used to be a one-week wait has now been cut down to as early as within the day of request.
This has been the case particularly in the National Capital Region, where the application process has now been shifted online through the PCSO website.
As for the agency’s branches throughout the country, Cua said that GLs for medical assistance for confinement/hospitalization are also released within the day.
For other requests, however, such as assistance for diagnostic procedures, specialty medicines, cancer treatment, hemodialysis, dialysis injection, and implant devices, patients are sometimes advised to return after 2 days to claim their GLs.
Cua said that plans are ongoing to digitize processes even at PCSO branches.
The chairman also reassured patients who are not accommodated in a day that they would still be served upon their return.
“Humihingi lang po kami ng kaunting paunawa sa ngayon dahil ang realidad ay hindi pa naman natin kayang i-absorb ang request ng lahat ng lumalapit. Ngunit pagsusumikapan po namin na lalo pang mapadami ang bilang ng kaya natin i-accommodate araw-araw (We are asking for everyone’s understanding because the truth is, we cannot approve all requests for medical assistance. But we are working hard and doing the necessary representations to increase the number of requests that we can approve on a daily basis),” Cua said.
