The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) needs to step up its information campaign on financial protection and other benefits available to Filipinos under the government’s national health insurance program.

Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan made this call during the first day of the Bicameral Conference Committee hearings on the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026 on Saturday, Dec. 13,

Yamsuan--who is part of the 12-person contingent of the House of Representatives to the bicam, pointed out that many Filipinos remain unaware of the benefits they can get from PhilHealth, or the fact that all citizens have automatically become PhilHealth members under the Universal Health Care Law.

“In Parañaque, for instance, many of our kababayans do not know that they can benefit from Phillhealth benefits like YAKAP (Yaman ng Kalusugan) where they can get access to free consultations, and P20,000 worth of medicines every year,” Yamsuan said.

He made the manifestation during the deliberations on the proposed budget of the Department of Health (DOH), one of several agencies tackled by lawmakers Saturday.

Senator Erwin Tulfo agreed with Yamsuan and joined the latter in urging the state health insurer to step up its information campaign about its benefit packages.

A recent independent study analyzing outpatients’ knowledge about YAKAP concluded that public awareness of the program’s specific benefits “remains limited and fragmented, with many Filipinos familiar with Philhealth as an institution but not with the precise components or registration procedures of the outpatient package".

Yamsuan suggested that PhilHealth increase its presence on social media and coordinate with the local government units (LGUs) to complement this with community-based information drives about the benefits offered by the national health insurer.

YAKAP expanded the previous Konsulta program of PhilHealth to include not only free access to medical consultations and certain laboratory tests, but also cancer screenings, and an expanded list of covered medicines worth P20,000 per year.

“This is a laudable initiative of our President [Marcos], which, however, many Filipinos do not know about. Kung alam man nila na may YAKAP, hindi nila alam kung saang YAKAP accredited clinic pupunta, o kung saang YAKAP accredited pharmacy makakakuha ng libreng gamot,” noted the Parañaque solon.

(Even if they know about YAKAP, they are at a loss as to which YAKAP accredited clinic to go to, or in which YAKAP accredited pharmacy they can get free medicines.)

Many Filipinos also do not know that they can avail of packages like Z Benefits, which covers life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, heart surgery and orthopedic implants, along with outpatient support for those with mental health conditions, among other benefits under PhilHealth, Yamsuan said.

“A weak information campaign defeats the PhilHealth’s purpose of making quality healthcare accessible and affordable to every Filipino,” Yamsuan underscored.

The head of the House contingent to the bicam, Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing, said the lower chamber sought to add P60 billion to PhilHealth under its version of the GAB.

“With the P60 billion added by the House, the total subsidy for PhilHealth increases to P113 billion, geared towards the improvement of benefits,” Suansing said during the bicam discussions, which for the first time ever was livestreamed.