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BBM to DOH: Ensure continuous PhilHealth service
The Philippine Star
|January 15, 2025
President Marcos yesterday directed the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure the continuous delivery of services by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) even if the state-run insurer did not receive a subsidy in this year's national budget.
"Make sure that services of PhilHealth remain unhampered... (The zero subsidy) should not affect the delivery of health care services," Marcos told Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa during a meeting at Malacañang.
PhilHealth was initially allocated a P74-billion subsidy in the 2025 budget, but the bicameral conference committee scrapped the item, citing a P600-billion reserve fund that has not been spent.
Marcos supported the removal of the subsidy, saying the health insurer has sufficient funds for its operations even without subsidies.
Some sectors are worried that the zero subsidy for PhilHealth might affect its capability to implement its benefit packages and pay the premium contribution of vulnerable sectors.
This story is from the January 15, 2025 edition of The Philippine Star.
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