BAUKO, Mountain Province — PhilHealth members in Mountain Province now have more opportunities to access preventive healthcare as 16 health facilities across the province have been accredited as Yaman ng Kalusugan Program (YAKAP) clinics.
The expansion is part of PhilHealth’s push to bring primary healthcare closer to communities while encouraging members to seek medical attention before illnesses become more serious and costly to treat.
The 16 accredited facilities include 10 Rural Health Units (RHUs), five hospitals, and one private clinic.
Among the hospitals identified by PhilHealth Mountain Province are Bontoc General Hospital, Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital, Natonin Super Health Center, Paracelis District Hospital, and St. Theodore of Tarsus Hospital Foundation Inc. in Sagada. The Paracelis RSB Medical Clinic is the private clinic included in the accreditation.
What can PhilHealth members get through YAKAP?
YAKAP is PhilHealth’s enhanced primary-care program designed to focus on prevention, early detection and treatment at the community level.
According to PhilHealth, members and their qualified dependents can access primary-care consultations, laboratory services, medicines and selected cancer-screening services through accredited YAKAP facilities.
The package includes 13 essential laboratory tests, such as complete blood count, urinalysis, fecalysis, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, creatinine and HbA1c. It also includes services such as chest X-ray and electrocardiogram, subject to the applicable program rules.
But one of the biggest draws for members is the medicine component.
Through the expanded program, YAKAP provides access to 75 essential medicines. Twenty-one medicines are stocked directly in YAKAP clinics, while another 54 medicines are available through PhilHealth’s GAMOT (Guaranteed and Accessible Medications for Outpatient Treatment) benefit.
The GAMOT component provides coverage of up to ₱20,000 per member per year, subject to PhilHealth policies and eligibility requirements.
Cancer screening is also included
PhilHealth’s YAKAP package also places greater emphasis on detecting diseases early.
The program covers six cancer-screening tests, including mammography, breast ultrasound, low-dose chest CT scan, alpha-fetoprotein blood testing, liver ultrasound and colonoscopy, depending on the member’s eligibility and applicable clinical guidelines.
The objective is straightforward: identify potential health problems earlier, when intervention may be more effective, rather than waiting until a condition requires more expensive treatment.
Members need to register with a YAKAP clinic
While the benefits are available through the program, members should not simply assume that they can walk into any facility and automatically receive every YAKAP service.
PhilHealth has emphasized that beneficiaries must be legitimate members or dependents and must select or be assigned to an accredited YAKAP clinic before availing themselves of covered consultations, laboratory services, GAMOT prescriptions and cancer-screening referrals.
PhilHealth also reminded the public that only accredited facilities and authorized health professionals may provide services under the program.
For GAMOT medicines, prescriptions must follow PhilHealth’s prescribed process, including issuance through the authorized GAMOT system, while dispensing must be done through accredited providers. These safeguards are intended to prevent fraud and misuse of the benefit.
YAKAP is expanding nationwide
The Mountain Province rollout is part of a much broader national expansion.
PhilHealth’s latest published accreditation figures show 4,311 YAKAP clinics nationwide as of May 31, 2026, including 3,073 government facilities and 1,238 private facilities.
Other Cordillera provinces have likewise been expanding access. In Ifugao, for example, PhilHealth reported 14 accredited YAKAP clinics and healthcare facilities earlier this year, while PhilHealth CAR has been working to increase access to both YAKAP and GAMOT services across the region.
The shift reflects a broader change in PhilHealth’s approach to primary care: rather than focusing only on treatment once a patient becomes seriously ill, YAKAP is designed to encourage regular checkups, early diagnosis, preventive care and appropriate medication.
The message from PhilHealth Mountain Province
PhilHealth Mountain Province officials Blessing Bondad and Shirley Sumcad urged members to take advantage of the services available through the newly accredited facilities instead of waiting until symptoms worsen.
For residents in geographically isolated and mountainous communities, having accredited primary-care providers closer to home could make preventive healthcare more accessible and reduce the need to immediately seek more expensive hospital-based care.
For members, however, the most important step is to verify their YAKAP registration and identify their accredited clinic before attempting to use the benefits.
PhilHealth maintains an official list of accredited YAKAP facilities, which is updated periodically as providers are accredited or their status changes.
Bottom line
The accreditation of 16 YAKAP facilities in Mountain Province gives PhilHealth members wider access to primary healthcare—from consultations and laboratory tests to selected cancer screenings and medicine assistance.
And with up to ₱20,000 annually available under the GAMOT benefit, the program could provide significant financial relief for eligible members who need maintenance or outpatient medicines.
But the benefit only matters if members actually use it.
Before a minor health concern becomes a major medical bill, PhilHealth is urging Mountain Province residents to find their YAKAP clinic, register and make use of the preventive services available to them.
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