President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reiterated Thursday that Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) services will continue despite the looming removal of its subsidy from the government under the 2025 proposed national budget.
Speaking before reporters, Marcos allayed fears that the zero subsidy would interrupt the services of the state insurer.
“Napakasimple lang ng guarantee ko — kahit may subsidy, kahit walang subsidy, kahit anong contribution, all of these issues, hindi mababawasan ang serbisyo ng Philhealth,” Marcos said.
(My guarantee is very simple — whether there are subsidies or not, regardless of contributions, none of these issues will reduce the services of PhilHealth.)
“Hindi mababawasan ang bayad ng Philhealth sa insurance claim. In fact baligtad. Padadamihin pa namin ang serbisyong ibibigay ng Philhealth, pararamihin, palalakihin pa namin ang pagbayad sa insurance claims,” he said.
(The payments from PhilHealth for insurance claims will not decrease. In fact, it’s the opposite. We will be increasing the services provided by PhilHealth and we will expand the payments for insurance claims.)
Senate finance committee chairperson Grace Poe previously disclosed the PhilHealth will receive zero subsidy under the proposed 2025 national budget, saying the state insurer still has P600 billion reserve funds which they can use.
“I would like to just assure everybody. Huwag nyong inaalaala na mababawasan ang serbisyo kahit na kanino…Quite the opposite. Dadagdagan natin yan in 2025, mas dadami pa ang magiging serbisyo na ibinibigay ng Philhealth, mas lalaki pa ang magiging payment na ibibigay sa insurance claim,” said Marcos.
(I would like to assure everyone that there will be no reduction in services for anyone. Quite the opposite. We will be expanding those services in 2025; PhilHealth will offer even more services, and the payments for insurance claims will increase.)
“Kaya huwag po kayong mag aalaala, walang mawawala sa serbisyo ng Philhealth. Mas pinapaganda pa nga naming ang pagpatakbo ng Philhealth para mas marami pang maibibigay sa taong bayan,” he said.
(So please don’t worry, there will be no loss of services from PhilHealth. In fact, we are improving the operation of PhilHealth so that we can provide even more to the public.)
Last week, Marcos said PhilHealth has enough funds to continue delivering services despite the proposed zero subsidy.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa earlier said the state insurer still has a P150 billion surplus from its 2024 budget that could pay for the subsidy of indirect members.
For its part, the PhilHealth assured the public of its sufficient funds to support beneficiaries but expressed hope that Marcos would reconsider the zero subsidy decision.
Meanwhile, the DOH, which is PhilHealth’s supervising agency, affirmed that services would remain uninterrupted.
Senator JV Ejercito earlier said he would push for an oversight committee hearing to assess the implementation of the UHC Act, citing potential lapses in PhilHealth’s role.—Sundy Locus/AOL, GMA Integrated News
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