By May Rago-Castillo

Groups of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) recently called for the strict implementation of discount in doctors’ professional fees which is provided for by the law, specifically Republic Act 9442.

Lolita Sumagaysay, an advocate for PWD rights herself said that there are “Doctors in private hospitals and medical facilities do not give discount on PWDs for professional fees.”

The law includes in its provision, “Persons with disability shall be entitled to the following: (Section 32d) At least twenty percent (20%) discount on medical and dental services including diagnostic and laboratory fees such as, but not limited to, x-rays, computerized tomography scans and blood tests, in all government facilities, subject to guidelines to be issued by the Department of Health (DOH), in coordination with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHILHEALTH); (e) At least twenty percent (20%) discount on medical and dental services including diagnostic and laboratory fees, and professional fees of attending doctors in all private hospitals and medical facilities, in accordance with the rules and regulations to be issued by the DOH, in coordination with the PHILHEALTH.”

In answer, Department of Justice (DOJ) representative Virgilio Garcia, whose agency heads the observance of the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) week year, told the PWDs to report to the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office (PDAO) the action as a violation, cite the name of the physician and gather evidence so they could “prosecute the concerned doctors.”

“We can recommend them to be prosecuted. However, there are other options like bringing the violation to the group of doctors since they also have their own association and could very well take up the matter among themselves. It could also be brought to the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC),” said Garcia.

Other concerns

The PWDs also raised the following concerns:

•    List of basic prime commodities with discount written in PWDs purchase booklet differs from the computer system of various grocery and department stores.
•    Some lodging establishments in Iloilo City do not grant 20 percent discount for PWDs
•    Persons with Disabilities are not provided with five percent discount from water and electric bills and no Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption
•    Travel agencies do not grant discount to PWDs
•    Assistance for sign language interpreter to hearing impaired with court-related problem/police matters./dswd6