PhilHealth budget to be hiked by 24.4% in 2019

The budget of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will be hiked by 24.4 percent next year in efforts to expand its health care coverage, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Tuesday.

In an emailed statement, the DBM said that PhilHealth will be given a budget of P67.4 billion, higher than the cash-based equivalent budget of P54.1 billion this year.

According to the DBM, the 2019 program is expected to cover a total of 15.4 million indigent families, 5.4 million senior citizens, 25,514 families under the Payapa at Masaganag Pamayanan (PAMANA) Program, and another 22,709 families under the Bangsamoro health insurance program.

"Looking back at the health agenda of the Duterte administration, which is to continue widening the coverage of the health insurance program, we can see that we are definitely on the right track," Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.

As of March 2018, PhilHealth recorded a coverage of 98.24 million Filipinos, equivalent to 92 percent of the entire Philippine population. — BM, GMA News