Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go decried the zero allocation for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) during the bicameral conference committee meeting for the 2025 National Budget on Wednesday.
The bicameral conference committee announced that state medical insurer PhilHealth will receive no government subsidy in the proposed 2025 national budget due to its P600 billion reserve funds.
Go, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health, criticized the decision emphasizing that health should remain a top priority of the government.
Go expressed his dismay over the decision to deny PhilHealth any budget allocation, underscoring its critical role in providing healthcare benefits to Filipinos.
“As chairman of the Committee on Health, advocacy ko ang health. Dapat po ang pondo ng PhilHealth ay para sa health. Kaya nga po PhilHealth. Katumbas niyan ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino. Kaya dapat bigyan po natin ng prayoridad ang health,” he said in a statement.
The senator also warned that the lack of sufficient funding for PhilHealth would adversely impact vulnerable sectors.
“Huwag naman zero budget. Sa huli, mga mahihirap na pasyente na naman ang kawawa diyan,” he said.
The senator cited Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law mandates that the amount necessary to implement the provisions of the UHC shall be included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“Ito po yung nakolekta noong 2023, dapat po’y nakalaan ito para sa 2025, and shall be appropriated under the DOH and National Government subsidy to PhilHealth. May pinanggalingan na po iyan tulad ng sin tax collections na dapat ay para sa implementation ng UHC, nasa batas po iyan. May earmarking po iyan under RA 11346 at RA 11467 or the Sin Tax Law,” Go explained.
Go added that there is also a provision in the UHC Act that premium subsidy from indirect contributors shall be included annually in the GAA.
“Paano mag-bebenefit ang mga pasyente kung zero ang budget ng PhilHealth?,” he asked.
Go has been urging PhilHealth to expand its benefit packages, especially for top 10 mortality diseases, increase case rates, scrap its restrictive policies like the 24-hour confinement policy, and cover additional services like dental, optometric services, and assistive devices, among others.
“Bigyan sana natin ng maayos at sapat na budget ang PhilHealth at hikayatin ang PhilHealth na i-maximize ang paggamit ng kanilang pondo para sa kanilang mga health-related programs and services,” he said.
This year, PhilHealth’s budget has been a controversial topic after the Department of Finance (DOF) earlier order the state health insurer to return reserve money worth P89.9 billion to the national treasury.
