Herbosa: We need to fix PhilHealth ‘broken system’

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on Friday called out the “broken system” of state health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Herbosa, also the PhilHealth chairman of the board, pointed out that the funds of the state health insurer are for health insurance and not pension

“Philhealth Management [which is distinct from the Board of Directors] treated the PhilHealth funds like a pension fund. That’s why their emphasis has been to protect the fund and resist paying the health benefits of its members!” Herbosa said in a statement.

“We need to fix this broken system,” he added.

Because of the P600-billion reserve funds of PhilHealth, the Congress decided to remove P74 billion of government subsidy to the state health insurer.

The Commission on Audit (COA) recently reported that the P89.90 billion excess funds of PhilHealth could have been used to expand the benefits of its members.

“I have been reading comments about the PhilHealth Issue. It seems many do not understand the difference between pension and health insurance. Pension insurance and health insurance serve distinct purposes, providing financial protection in different ways,” Herbosa said.

The DOH chief pointed out that pension insurance is for long-term savings for retirement, providing income replacement. On the other hand, he said health insurance is for short-term financial protection against medical expenses.

GMA News Online sought comment from PhilHealth president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma about Herbosa’s statement but he has yet to respond as of posting time.—Joviland Rita/AOL, GMA Integrated News