Despite the proposed zero subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in the 2025 national budget, President Marcos assured on Thursday, Dec. 19, that the state insurer will continue expanding its services and provide excellent benefits for all.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Malacañang Photo)
While there was a proposal in the House of Representatives to suspend PhilHealth premium contributions for a year, the President said this was just “an idea” and a “response” to the public backlash.
Marcos appealed to the public to study the proposal first before commenting.
“At tingnan naman ninyo, at ito yung guarantee ko, napakasimple lang ng guarantee ko. Kahit may subsidy, kahit walang subsidy, kahit anong contribution, all of these issues, hindi mababawasan ang serbisyo ng PhilHealth (And look at it, this is my guarantee, my guarantee is simple. Whether there is subsidy or no subsidy, whatever the contribution is, all of these issues, PhilHealth’s services will not be cut down),” he said.
“Hindi mababawasan ang bayad ng PhilHealth sa insurance claim (PhilHealth’s payments to insurance claim will not be reduced),” he added.
In fact, the Chief Executive stressed that PhilHealth will expand its services.
“So, I would like to just assure everybody. Huwag nyong inaalaala na mababawasan ang serbisyo kahit na kanino. Para sa senior, para sa mahirap, para sa middle class. Walang mababawasan kahit isang kusing (Don’t be worried that the services will be reduced. For the senior citizens, for the poor, for the middle class. Not even a cent will be deducted),” Marcos said.
“Mas pinapaganda pa nga namin ang pagpatakbo ng PhilHealth para mas marami pang maibibigay sa taong bayan (We’re even improving the management of PhilHealth so we can give more to the people),” he added.
Last week, Senator Grace Poe announced that PhilHealth will get zero subsidy in 2025 because of its P600 billion reserve funds.
She also admitted that the agency’s budget was among the contentious provisions of the 2025 budget measure.
This led to public backlash on social media and in rallies as critics attacked the budget cuts in the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget.
Marcos then deferred the signing of the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to give way to “a rigorous and comprehensive review” of the measure, including cuts in the PhilHealth and Department of Education (DepEd).