Former Department of Finance (DOF) Undersecretary and University of the Philippines School of Economics Professor Cielo Magno debunks recent government claims that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has about PhP 600 billion funds at its disposal. In August 2024, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto defended DOF Circular 003-2024, which ordered the transfer of Php 89.9 billion worth of PhilHealth funds to the national treasury to fund appropriations. The Finance Chief justified this transfer scheme by citing that the state health insurer still has Php 500 billion benefit chest fund to pay for its members’ multi-year claims.
Subsequently, in December 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. stated that PhilHealth still has enough funds to cover health benefits for all Filipinos. A claim he made right after his administration pilfered Php 60 billion worth of insurance funds from PhilHealth and allocated them zero subsidy for 2025.
“This is the first time Filipinos have seen the government allocate zero funds for PhilHealth,
despite the passage of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law in 2019. This zero funding is a
statement, a demonstration of the state’s abandonment of its obligation to protect and promote people’s right to health. Instead, it prioritized and allocated billions for ayuda–patronage-driven programs such as AKAP and medical assistance,” said Professor Magno.
According to Magno, besides the fact that the figures shown by Secretary Recto and President Marcos are confusing and questionable, the amount claimed to be available at PhilHealth’s disposal is still not sufficient to sustain the complete rollout of outpatient primary care benefit coverage for all Filipinos. For one, the Konsulta Package alone costs P194 billion per year, not to mention the infrastructure that needs to be in place to effectively implement this primary care package, including expanding health information.
“Adding insult to injury, the President did not only allow his office, through the DOF, to orchestrate an unconstitutional transfer of PhP 60 billion PhilHealth Funds, but he did also, in the same year, sign a flawed 2025 budget that allocates zero budget to PhilHealth,” added Magno.
In addition, the 2023 benefit payments of PhilHealth revealed its failure to sufficiently fund the full-service coverage of benefits and packages relative to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), such as maternal health care and infectious diseases. For instance, PhilHealth covered only half of the benefits for pregnant women and a small proportion of TB patients. With the looming health crisis in the Philippines, the defunding of state health insurance only exacerbates the suffering of the Filipino people.
Meanwhile, President Marcos, despite having no constitutional basis, argued that the
government can use the subsidy for premium payments of the indirect PhilHealth contributors–the poor, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities–‘for several other purposes’. Ironically, he assured that even with zero funding in 2025, the administration will ‘increase the services provided by PhilHealth and the payment for insurance claims.’
“This paradox of asking for more benefit packages while giving less funds to PhilHealth does not do justice to all the members of PhilHealth. I challenge the administration to show us an effective and full implementation of Konsulta. Fully cover the patients needing the basic PhilHealth packages, then let’s discuss if there is indeed “excess” funds to raid from the Filipino people’s money, pooled in PhilHealth,” challenged Magno.
Magno is also one of the Supreme Court petitioners against the diversion of P89.9 billion
PhilHealth funds, joining the group of Senator Aquilino Pimentel III. The oral argument for this case is being held today, February 4, 2025, at the Supreme Court En Banc Session Hall.#
