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SEN. Loren Legarda filed Senate Bill 164, or An Act Providing Monthly Maintenance Medication Support for Senior Citizens, seeking to provide eligible senior citizens with P1,000 monthly to help in the purchase of maintenance medications.
“We are alleviating the burden of our senior citizens by helping them manage these debilitating diseases as they get older,” the lawmaker explained.
“This is to fulfill the government’s mandate to ensure that senior citizens have access to affordable health care, including the medications necessary for maintaining their health and well-being,” she added.
Legarda, the principal author of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, said that discounts in the purchase of medicines might not be enough for many senior citizens.
Under the proposed law, a monthly maintenance medication support card would be issued to beneficiaries, which cannot be transferable or convertible to cash.
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Senior citizens with a valid prescription issued within the last six months will be eligible to receive the stipend.
Fraud and abuse of the program will be penalized under existing laws.
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“This is to pay homage to those who have toiled and paved the road for all of us; this is a small token of recognition,” remarked Legarda.
“We are here to affirm the State’s promise to take care of our senior citizens, helping make sure no one is left behind.”
