By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan
Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa assured Monday, Dec. 16, that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has sufficient budget from its reserves to operate in 2025, despite the absence of national government subsidies.
Herbosa addressed the matter during the department’s flag ceremony, clarifying concerns over PhilHealth’s lack of funding in the 2025 national budget after the bicameral conference committee approved the General Appropriations Bill.
“What the opposers are saying is wrong, that PhilHealth has no budget. There is [a budget]. The PhilHealth board approved a very high budget of PHP284 billion.
“What disappeared was the government subsidy. The expenses [for 2025] include PHP271 billion for benefits, PHP12 billion for administrative expenses, and PHP0.3 billion for capital outlay,” Herbosa said.
He explained that the PHP284 billion from PhilHealth’s reserves would be enough to sustain its operations and continue providing benefits to its members.
“The PHP284 billion budget is as high as the DOH’s budget.
“But it is us at the DOH giving out services. Remember that health services are provided by our 87 hospitals and primary care facilities.
“PhilHealth’s only job is to pay these hospitals,” Herbosa stated.
“If they retain that money in the bank, that will become a problem. Why should they be given [more] money?
“They should be paying that to the hospitals so that benefits continue. If the money doesn’t go to the hospitals, we couldn’t buy medicines, and we couldn’t pay out salaries,” he added.
Herbosa also defended the removal of government subsidies in the 2025 budget, noting PhilHealth’s underutilization of its allocated funds for 2024.
He pointed out that PhilHealth still has PHP150 billion remaining from its 2024 budget, which he said could cover both direct and indirect contributors in 2025.
“In 2024, only 63 percent of the budget allocated by the government for PhilHealth [benefits] was utilized.
“That’s low, right? For us at the DOH, that’s a failure—63 percent.
“That means they had a surplus of PHP150 billion. Now, if you were given money by your mother and didn’t spend it, would you still ask for more?” Herbosa explained.
He added that the remaining PHP150 billion is more than enough to cover the PHP74 billion initially proposed for indirect contributors in 2025.
“[PhilHealth] still has PHP150 billion left, more than the PHP74 billion that we asked for.
“What I presented to Congress was a PHP74 billion subsidy for indirect [contributors].
“PhilHealth can pay for the PHP74 billion because there is still an excess from last year, right?” Herbosa said.
