The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) should use its surplus funs to expand benefit packages and resolve gaps in public healthcare access, Sen. Loren Legarda said.
Legarda made the call even as she expressed belief the state health insurer can do this despite the removal of the P74-billion government subsidy for PhilHealth under the proposed 2025 national budget.
With billions worth of surplus funds, the senator said PhilHealth can fully implement the goals of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law even with zero government subsidy.
“With billions in reserves and surplus, PhilHealth has the resources to ensure every Filipino benefits from quality healthcare. But without proper implementation of the UHC Law, many will continue to face barriers to essential services,” Legarda said during a Senate Committee on Health hearing on Wednesday, December 18.
During the hearing where PhilHealth's financial state and management was scrutinized following Congress’ removal of its subsidy, PhilHealth Senior Vice President Renato Limsiaco Jr. reported that the agency has a total of P 628.2 billion in assets as of October 2024, including P281 billion in reserves and P 150 billion in surplus funds.
Despite the removal of the government subsidy, PhilHealth’s Corporate Operating Budget (COB) for 2025 is set at P 284.1 billion, marking an almost 10 percent increase from the P 259 billion allocated for 2024.
Of the total budget, P 271 billion will be dedicated to benefit expenses, covering existing and expanded benefit packages. The funding will come from P 203 billion in direct contributions, P 20 billion from investments, and P 48 billion from the surplus fund.
PhilHealth officials also said the remainder of the surplus amount can be augmented should the P 271 Billion allotted for benefit expense in 2025 is exhausted.
Legarda stressed there is a need to expand benefit packages to address the full spectrum of healthcare needs, urging PhilHealth executives to identify accredited Konsulta provider centers equipped with breast screening, ultrasound, and mammogram machines and to make this information publicly accessible.
“The UHC Law was enacted to ensure healthcare is accessible at the point of care,” Legarda said.
“It is unacceptable for people to queue at multiple offices seeking assistance for hospital bills while billions sit unused,” Legarda said.
She also supported calls for operational reforms, faster reimbursement processes, and prioritization of vulnerable sectors from PhilHealth.
“PhilHealth is deducting from all of us while people are dying, asking for a guarantee letter, and going through a long process. Meanwhile, you are holding hundreds of billions in cash. The people must understand where their money is going,” she told PhilHealth officials.