ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House gets its way as bicam earmarks P51B for zero balance billing program for poor patients

House gets its way as bicam earmarks P51B for zero balance billing program for poor patients

Published Dec 14, 2025 01:48 pm

At A Glance

  • The Bicameral Conference Committee on the 2026 national budget has approved a P51.645-billion allocation for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) Program.
Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing (Facebook)
Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing (Facebook)


The Bicameral Conference Committee on the 2026 national budget has approved a P51.645-billion allocation for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) Program.
This took place during the first day of the bicam hearings on the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on Saturday, Dec. 13, which lasted past midnight Sunday, Dec. 14.
Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing, the head of the House of Representatives' contingent to the bicam, moved for the approval of the final amount of P51.645 billion.
Senate contingent head and Committee on Finance Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian carried the motion after hearing no objection from the confereees.
As the name implies, the MAIFIP is mechanism used for the benefit of poor Filipinos with medical needs. It is not given in the form of cash; rather, it is a guarantee letter provided by politicians.
While this makes it controversial by nature, the conferees still acknowledged its necessity.
"In a perfect world...dapat pagpasok ng isang mahirap sa pampublikong hospital, make-cater na ang kanyang pangangailangan, dapat ganun. Hindi kailangan yung kakilala yung mayor, congressman, senador. Sana ganun," Senator Loren Legarda said during the marathon hearing.
(When a poor person enters a public hospital, their needs should already be catered to, that’s how it should be. It should not be necessary to know the mayor, congressman, or senator. Hopefully, that’s how it would be.)
"Until such time that the UHC (Universal Health Care Law) is really, completely, properly implemented, and PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation) is able to handle all of this, I believe that we must provide for the poorest of the poor in the most far-flung islands, and the highest uplands," she noted.
Suansing said the House version of the GAB provided a P49.2-billion funding for MAIFIP.“This is meant to actualize the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to provide zero balance billing for indigent patients in government hospitals,” she said.
However, the program only had a P29-billion budget under the Senate’s GAB.
"If the House version is not adopted, that would reduce the number of beneficiaries by 1.1 million," the solon from Nueva Ecija said.
"I appeal to our colleagues in the Senate to consider adopting the Senate version of MAIFIP which is at P49.23...but if you add the requirements of the Senate that would come to around P51 billion," Suansing said, referring to the eventual final amount.
The House contingent thanked the Senate after the increase was adopted.
As the bicam deliberations continue, the House panel said it will work with the Senate to ensure that the final version of the 2026 outlay retains the enhanced health sector funding and advances the goal of universal, affordable healthcare for Filipinos.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.