President Marcos is still studying the recommendation to suspend the implementation of the five-percent increase in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.'s (PhilHealth) premium rates, Malacañang said.

Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said this after PhilHealth chief Emmanuel Ledesma said that the Office of the President did not object to the said increase.

In a statement, the Palace official said Marcos wanted to make sure that any increase in PhilHealth's premium rates would be beneficial to its members.

"The review is still ongoing," she said Friday, Feb. 23.

"The President wants to ensure that any increase in premium will substantially be much more in value in terms of benefits and coverage to PhilHealth members," she added.

The scheduled increase is mandated under the Universal Health Care Law, which was signed in 2019. It directs PhilHealth contributions to increase until it reaches five percent in 2024.

Premium contribution rose to three percent in 2020 and would have increased by .5 percent yearly until it reached the target. However, PhilHealth suspended the rate hike in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

If the implementation of the premium rate hike this year is not suspended, those earning P10,000 a month would contribute P500.