Gabriela Women's Party Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas on Friday, Feb. 28, condemned the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)'s move to transfer its P60 billion worth of "excess funds" to the National Treasury despite having unsettled monetary claims.

For Brosas, what the state insurer did was "a betrayal of the Filipino people who are forced to contribute to PhilHealth despite minimal benefits and meager deductions from their hospital bill".

"PhilHealth Senior Vice President Renato Limsiaco Jr. himself admitted during Supreme Court (SC) oral arguments that not all claims were paid before the massive fund transfer. This is unacceptable," she added.

The lawmaker said that the recent fund transfer "exposes the fundamental flaws in the country's insurance-based healthcare system".
 
"Pinapabayaran nila ang mga manggagawa at ordinaryong mamamayan para sa PhilHealth contributions kahit hindi naman napapakinabangan ng karamihan (They ask the workers and ordinary citizens to pay for PhilHealth contributions although many of them do not benefit from it)," she said.

"Tapos ngayon, ililipat pa nila ang P60 bilyon sa National Treasury habang marami pang ospital, doctor, at pasyente ang naghihintay ng kabayaran (And now, they are transferring the P60 billion excess funds to the National Treasury while many hospitals, doctors and patients haven't received their payment)," she added.

Brosas believed that the scandal would not have happened if the government only prioritized direct funding to public hospitals instead of relying on an insurance-based model, which she said was prone to corruption.

Thus the need for the  Marcos government must act on it, she said.

"Instead of forcing Filipinos to contribute to an inefficient and corrupt insurance system, the government should directly fund our public hospitals and healthcare facilities," she said.