‘Guarantee letters’

It is a term that’s familiar to patients at public hospitals, including the most prestigious specialty public hospitals.

- TONYO CRUZ

For indigents and for those in the lower rungs of the middle class, this is perhaps the only way to pay for labs, medicines, confinement and procedures.

The so-called Malasakit Centers promised to “streamline” the procedures for getting medical assistance from the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philhealth, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and other sources. There are many positive testimonials about it, and it has been credited for the electoral success of certain politicians.

I became quite familiar with the processes last year, when I had to undergo procedures at a specialty public hospital. I am absolutely grateful to fellow citizens and taxpayers. It is they, or we, who actually continue to fund the specialty public hospital, employ world-class public health workers and doctors, and make possible the procedures I needed to get. Let me explain.

GLs used to be actual letters, but the letters of the past have since been boiled down to a series of numbers attached to the name of the patient, a specific public hospital and a specific amount.