The country’s largest group of employers is pushing for the expansion of benefit packages for direct contributing members of state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) as it calls for a revamp of what it described as an unfair system.

In a statement on Monday, July 13, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said it supports Executive Secretary Ralph Recto’s proposal to make the benefits of paying PhilHealth members commensurate with their premiums.

ECOP said direct contributors, including workers, self-employed professionals, and employers, paid a combined ₱209 billion in premiums last year.

Despite this, the group said paying members of the state health insurer were only able to avail themselves of ₱121 billion in claims, while 58 percent of claims went to subsidized or indirect members.

“The paying members are, in effect, carrying the system—while receiving less than their fair share from it,” it said.

ECOP warned that if this system continues to disadvantage paying members, PhilHealth may “eventually lose the trust and the compliance of the very people who sustain it.”

Recto recently proposed providing proportionate benefits to those who regularly pay their PhilHealth premiums following the death of Marvin Sulit, who died from a brain hematoma.

In a viral Facebook post, Maria Lourdes Sulit, Marvin’s wife, lamented that PhilHealth denied her husband’s benefits because he had been confined for less than 24 hours before his death.

“We stand with Executive Secretary Recto on this. What happened to Marvin Sulit should never happen to any Filipino again,” ECOP said.

“For 25 years, he paid into a system that was supposed to protect him. When the moment came that he needed it most, the system wasn’t there. That is not just a tragedy—it is a failure of a promise,” the group added.

ECOP said PhilHealth should act decisively and honor the mandate under Republic Act (RA) No. 11223, or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, to provide additional and differentiated benefits to direct contributors.

The group is also pushing for the removal of the 24-hour confinement rule, which denies coverage to patients who are discharged or die before completing the required confinement period.

It also wants the agency to “ensure that every peso paid by a working Filipino translates into real, accessible protection for that Filipino and their family.”

Recto’s push for expanded PhilHealth benefits is not without opposition, as more than 70 groups of health professionals said it could make the country’s healthcare system more unequal.

In a letter, the groups said the UHC Act was not intended to divide Filipinos into different tiers of health protection, noting that its benefits for workers and those who cannot afford to pay “are not competing rights,” but rather “complementary principles that ensure every Filipino is protected.”

“We understand that many working Filipinos feel they are not receiving enough benefits in return for the premiums they pay… This is because the government is failing to shoulder its lawful share in financing the premiums of the poor,” the groups said.

“The solution is clear—the government must stop diverting PhilHealth funds, and it must stop underfunding PhilHealth. If the government fulfills its obligations under the UHC Act, PhilHealth can strengthen benefits for every Filipino, rather than just a few,” they said.