DOH: PhilHealth still has P150B even with no subsidy in 2025

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said Monday that even as the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is expected to get zero subsidy under the 2025 national budget, it still has a P150 billion surplus from its 2024 budget that could pay for the subsidy of indirect members.

Herbosa, who sits as chairperson of the PhilHealth Board of Directors, explained that the subsidy for indirect contributors amounts to P5,000. If there are 16 million indirect members, he said PhilHealth has more than enough from its P150 billion surplus to pay for the P80 billion subsidy next year.

“Sa 2024, 63% lang po ang utilization ng pera na in-allocate ng pamahalaan para sa PhilHealth [benefits]. Mababa ‘yun, diba? Kung sa atin [sa DOH], lagpak ‘yun—63%. Ibig sabihin nun, nagkaroon sila ng surplus of P150 billion,” he said during the flag ceremony at the Department of Health (DOH).

(In 2024, the utilization of the money allocated by the government for PhilHealth benefits was only 63%. That's low. For us at the DOH, that's a drop—63%. That means, they had a surplus of P150 billion.)

“Mas marami pa ‘yung natira niya eh, P150 billion, [kaysa] hiningi natin na P74 billion. ‘Di ba prinesent ko sa Kongreso ay P74 billion subsidy for indirect [contributors]. Kayang-kaya bayaran ng PhilHealth ‘yung P74 billion dahil may sobra pa from last year,” he added.

(PhilHealth has about P150 billion left. That’s more than the P74 billion we asked for. What I presented to the Congress was a P74 billion subsidy for indirect contributors. PhilHealth can afford to pay the P74 billion because there is still money left from last year.)

The decision to cut PhilHealth’s subsidy stems from its P600 billion reserve funds, as disclosed by Senate Finance Committee chairperson Grace Poe during the bicameral conference committee meeting on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

Following the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, the DOH said that PhilHealth has already secured a reserve fund of over P280 billion which is good for two years’ worth of benefit and other operating expenses.

“Mali po ‘yung sinasabi ng mga kumukontra, na walang budget ang PhilHealth. Meron po. Napakalaki po ang [ia-approve] na budget ng Board ng PhilHealth. P284 billion po ang budget for 2025. Ang nawala po ay government subsidy,” Herbosa said.

(It's wrong to say that PhilHealth does not have a budget because it has. The budget to be approved by the PhilHealth Board is big. The budget for 2025 is P284 billion. What was lost was the government subsidy.)

Despite the looming subsidy removal, PhilHealth has assured the public of its sufficient funds to support beneficiaries.

The state health insurer, however, expressed hope that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. would reconsider the zero-subsidy decision.

Meanwhile, the DOH, which is PhilHealth's supervising agency, affirmed that services would remain uninterrupted.

Senator JV Ejercito also said on Sunday that he would push for an oversight committee hearing to assess the implementation of the UHC Act, citing potential lapses in PhilHealth's role. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News