Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Wednesday, October 30 reminded executives of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) that they are not operating as a private corporation that needs to yearly acquire huge savings and earn profit.
As the state health insurance agency, Ejercito said PhilHealth’s leadership ought to remember that the agency’s funds come from the members which are considered public money and therefore, should be used by them.
“You are a government agency, a service agency. We need to fully use (PhilHealth) funds for the benefit of the members,” Ejercito pointed out during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.
“So why will you declare an P89.9-billion excess fund when there are still people who are still struggling to pay the hospital bill?” he pointed out.
Ejercito, earlier, welcomed the Supreme Court decision to release a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the further transfer of the remaining P29.9-billion out of the P89.9 billion total excess funds of PhilHealth to the National Treasury.
As author and sponsor of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, the senator said it is imperative to use PhilHealth funds to fully implement the UHC law and carry out its programs.
That is why, he finds it questionable for PhilHealth to declare to the government such huge amount of savings when they have not even fully utilized the funds to carry out critical health programs and provided ample assistance to members who are in dire need of medical subsidy.
“We can’t blame the Department of Finance (DOF). It’s PhilHealth that is to blame for declaring they have savings when there are still a lot of people who need assistance,” he pointed out.
“There are still people struggling to pay the medical expenses, there are still hospitals that haven’t been paid,” Ejercito pointed out.
As far as he is concerned, PhilHealth shouldn’t be proud of having excess funds.
“As long as there are still people who have difficulty paying hospital bills, we are not successful yet. The only time that you can declare having excess funds is when everyone is satisfied,” he pointed out.
Ejercito said the matter about the transfer of PhilHealth’s P89.9 billion funds will be taken up in the upcoming plenary debates on the proposed 2025 national budget of the Department of Health (DOH).
He noted that despite having excess funds, PhilHealth is still asking for government subsidy under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“We will scrutinize that during the budget deliberations. We will start plenary debates on Wednesday. We are willing to grant subsidy but that is if there is a need for it. But why ask for a subsidy when you declare you have excess funds? They really have a lot of explaining to do,” he said.
PhilHealth leadership revamp
Ejercito, likewise, renewed his push for an immediate overhaul of PhilHealth’s leadership, expressing his disappointment at the leadership of its president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr.
“I hope for an immediate revamp because it’s sad, it’s their fault for declaring that PhilHealth has excess funds, what for? Just to please the administration?” he lamented.
“I hope immediately, there would be a revamp. PhilHealth should shape up so beneficiaries of the agency can immediately feel the implementation of the UHC law,” he stressed.
Irreparable damage to public health
For her part, Sen. Pia Cayetano called for an urgent evaluation on the legality of fund transfers to avoid a similar mistake in the future.
“I welcome the Supreme Court's issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the transfer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation's (PhilHealth) unused funds to the national treasury,” Cayetano said.
“This decision shows that there is an urgent need to evaluate the legality of such fund transfers and its irreparable damage to public health,” she added.
As Senior Finance Vice Chair handling the health budget for the past five years, and having closely monitored PhilHealth's budget requests and expenditures, Cayetano said she too is surprised that PhilHealth officials “suddenly declared that they had excess funds that would be transferred to the national treasury.”
For the fiscal years 2021-2023, Philhealth had requested additional budget allocations from the Senate.
“While PhilHealth has made strides in enhancing its benefit packages, significant gaps in our healthcare coverage still exist. Many packages for various ailments still leave patients with out-of-pocket expenses. And certain medical conditions remain uncovered,” she pointed out.
“Likewise, the rollout of the Konsulta Benefit Package - which covers outpatient services - still needs sufficient funding,” she lamented.
As such, Cayetano said the unused funds should be effectively allocated within the country’s healthcare system to address these unmet needs, rather than being redirected for purposes other than their intended use.
“We must never compromise our commitment to providing quality healthcare services for all Filipinos. Health should always be our foremost priority.