Senate President Chiz Escudero said the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) can afford to slash the mandatory contribution paid by its members due to the huge amount of unutilized funds that it has accumulated over the years.
Citing figures from the Department of Finance that the reserve fund of PhilHealth has now reached close to P500 billion plus the substantial government subsidy to the state health insurance firm every year, Escudero said there is more than enough resources to cover for a reduction in the premium contributions of its members.
“May mahigit kumulang P500 billion pa silang sobrang pera na pwedeng i-absorb kaugnay sa pagbabayad nga ng buwanang premium. Ang total subsidy ng pamahalaan para sa premium kada taon ay humigit kumulang P70 billion,” the veteran legislator said.
The national government provides an annual subsidy to PhilHealth for the implementation of the National Health Insurance Program, primarily to cover for the premiums of the indirect contributors that include indigents and senior citizens.
In 2021, the subsidy to PhilHealth amounted to P71.3 billion. This went up to P80 billion in 2022, P79 billion in 2023 and for this year, it was down to P40.3 billion.
The seasoned lawmaker pointed out that the huge subsidies allocated annually to PhilHealth, coupled with its continually increasing reserve fund, provide the state health insurer ample room to reduce the premium rate of its members.
Assuming the average subsidy to PhilHealth is at P70 billion, the senator argued that the government would still be able to reallocate a significant amount of funding for other purposes for seven years if the said subsidies were to be sourced from the firm’s reserve fund.
“Isa sa mga istratehiya na pwede nilang pag-aralan ay ang gamitin na lang (ang reserve fund) para pababain yung premium.”
“Pero imbes na gawin ‘yon, isa sa mga istratehiya na pwede nilang pag-aralan ay ang gamitin na lang (ang reserve fund) para pababain yung premium na karamihan naman ay gobyerno rin ang nagbabayad,” Escudero said.
He has been pointing out to PhilHealth that it is losing around P20 billion a year in terms of value by not utilizing its P500 billion reserve fund.
“Mas maganda na gamitin ang perang ‘yan para matulungan ang ating mga kababayan sa pamamagitan ng dagdag na serbisyong medical o sa pagbaba sa binabayaran nilang premium.”
“Kaya para sa akin mas maganda na gamitin ang perang ‘yan para matulungan ang ating mga kababayan sa pamamagitan ng dagdag na serbisyong medical o sa pagbaba sa binabayaran nilang premium,” Escudero said.
The Senate has already approved the bill seeking to amend Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act in order to bring down the premium rate for direct contributors of PhilHealth.
Under Senate Bill No. 2620, PhilHealth’s premium rate will go down to 3.25% from the current 5%, then this will gradually be increased to 3.5% in 2026, 3.75% in 2027, and 4% in 2028.
The bill is now with the House of Representatives, which has on its table two different measures seeking to amend the UHC Act.
He is also pushing for PhilHealth to adjust its case rates based on the amount of contributions paid by its members.
Just like other insurance products, Escudero said members who pay bigger premiums should be entitled to higher case rates, if and when they require medical attention.
Escudero noted that this “adjustment mechanism” for premiums and benefits was also mentioned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself during the recently-held Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council meeting in Malacañang.
