MANILA, Philippines — Health secretary Teodoro Herbosa said unused funds of state health insurer, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), should be returned to the national government since the agency failed to utilize these state subsidies.
In a television interview, Herbosa stressed the national government’s right to order PhilHealth the return of P89.9 billion in unused funds.
“These are not funds of PhilHealth. These are funds of the national government that PhilHealth asked for… The problem is for the past three years, these funds are in excess of what they register,” Herbosa, who as Department of Health chief is the chairperson of the PhilHealth board, said.
Herbosa pointed out that the funds to be remitted by PhilHealth are “not savings.”
“It’s not from the members’ contributions. This is not from their reserve fund, this is not from their investments. This is from government money that they asked for, and government gave it and they (PhilHealth) were unable to absorb it.”
Herbosa added that even after returning the excess PhilHealth funds, the DOH could always use additional support, but that the state insurer at this point can already increase its benefits.
“The Department of Health is now the third highest budget among the executive branches. We’re next to Education and DPWH and public works and it’s now helped actually, but I can definitely use more money, and PhilHealth can definitely increase the benefits,” he continued.
The government has repeatedly reiterated that the return of PhilHealth’s excess funds will not affect the roll out of additional member benefits this year.
In previous statements, government executives have stated that the number of generic drugs available for outpatient treatments like hypertension will more than double to 53 from the current 21.
In addition to this, PhilHealth is set to almost double the benefits for those suffering from strokes and pneumonia, offering coverage of up to P76,000 pesos.
A nearly 1,000% increase in the coverage limit for breast cancer treatments, from P100,000 to P1.4 million, has likewise been announced. By end of the year, PhilHealth will also include chemotherapy for lung, liver, ovarian and prostate cancers in its coverage.
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