THE Department of Health (DOH) said on Saturday that new guidelines for Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (Maifip) would be released before the end of February. It added that the initiative aims to eliminate the need for indigent patients to secure guarantee letters from politicians. DOH spokesman Albert Domingo said that under Section 19 of the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), politicians are now prohibited from giving financial aid from the DOH program through guarantee letters. ”From P41 billion under the 2025 GAA, the budget increased to P51 billion, which will serve as the basis for the Maifip guidelines that the department will issue before the end of February 2026,” Domingo said in an interview. He added that the new Maifip guidelines will cover 100-percent inclusion of doctors’ professional fees, to be implemented in accordance with DOH standards. The DOH said the new guidelines will expand benefit coverage to include ambulatory care, ambulatory surgical clinics, eye centers, dental centers, ophthalmologic services, freestanding dialysis clinics, and Food and Drug Administration-approved medicines. Previously, Sen. Risa Hontiveros called on the DOH to ensure that patronage politics — such as the issuance of guarantee letters by public officials — be eliminated and that the new process for accessing financial assistance be clearly defined. ”Our decision in the Senate and the House was clear: people should no longer have to go door-to-door to politicians’ offices to beg for guarantee letters just to be able to get medical treatment,” Hontiveros said, speaking in Filipino.