SEN. Grace Poe said the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) should shoulder the government’s remaining payables to health workers given its increasing annual net income.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto on Wednesday reported to the Senate Committee on Finance led by Poe that PhilHealth would have a net income of P61 billion by the end of 2024.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Recto reported at the economic briefing by the Development Budget Coordination Committee on the proposed P6.352 trillion National Expenditure Program for 2025.
Sen. Grace Poe. (Eira Caberte, OS Poe / Senate Social Media Unit)
Recto added that PhilHealth’s net income has been growing for the past five years. It accumulated P4 billion in income in 2019, P30 billion in 2020, P48 billion in 2021, and P79 billion in 2022, he said.
“We’re hoping that the benefits that our beneficiaries were getting from PhilHealth would continue and even be expanded,” Poe said in Filipino.
“It is important that they feel that there is an agency they can turn to for their health needs,” she added.
Sens. Risa Hontiveros, JV Ejercito and Bong Go earlier questioned the Department of Finance’s directive to transfer unused PhilHealth funds amounting to almost P90 billion to the national coffers.
Hontiveros said the move was “unjustified and compromised the rights and interests of every Filipino to quality, accessible and affordable health care.”
Ejercito asked PhilHealth how it could effectively implement the Universal Health Care Law after the transfer of its excess funds.
“I have many questions in mind. Was this so-called excess fund the reason why our out-of-the-pocket expense increased?” he said.
Go called on PhilHealth to expand health care benefits, increase case rates and lower contributions for members as it accumulated excess and unutilized funds.
The senator raised the need to maximize available resources to help poor Filipinos who struggle to afford necessary medical care.
During a public hearing on July 30 conducted by the Senate Committee on Health led by Go, it was revealed that PhilHealth has almost P90 billion in excess funds scheduled to be returned to the National Treasury, as well as around P500 billion in reserves.
“It is not acceptable that PhilHealth has excess unused funds, and yet there are many sick Filipinos who cannot seek medical help because they have no money for hospital expenses,” Go said in Filipino.
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