A lawmaker on Sunday said that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is now pressed to implement a 20 to 30 percent hike in its benefits coverage despite owing various hospitals at least P27 billion.

Agri Partylist Rep. Wilbert Lee stressed that PhilHealth could initiate the effort amid the continued detrimental impact of high inflation in the country, which jumped anew in September to 6.1 percent from 5.3 percent in August.

During the budget hearing of the Department of Health's proposed P311.3-billion budget for 2024 before the House appropriations panel last September, Lee proposed that PhilHealth expand the benefits and coverage packages for its members, which the state health insurer later heeded.

This includes the increased coverage benefit packages for high-risk pneumonia and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

However, the neophyte lawmaker said that "instead of increasing PhilHealth's support for only selected diseases, there should be an increase in all the hospitalization fees it covers for its members."

Thus, PhilHealth, a tax-exempt government owned and controlled attached to the DoH, should implement a minimum 20 percent across-the-board increase in its offered health benefits, according to Lee.

The solon stressed the urgent need to increase and expand health benefits, asserting that PhilHealth's case rates are no longer responsive to the hospitalization cost, adding that being ill during this period is not advantageous since the expenses associated with hospitalization are significantly higher, which would pose a financial hardship for Filipinos, particularly considering the concurrent increase in the costs of products and services.

Lee said his office had already written a letter to PhilHealth officials recommending a 20 to 30 percent increase in benefits coverage.

Currently, PhilHealth covers almost 66 percent of the hospital bills of Filipino members on average, according to its president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr.

During DoH's 2024 budget hearing, Lee hit Ledesma, saying his office received complaints that PhilHealth was behind the unsettled outstanding payments to accredited hospitals despite having sufficient funds.

PhilHealth possesses investible funds amounting to P466 billion and has generated P68.4 billion in net income. However, Ledesma confirmed that it incurred a total debt of P27 billion to multiple hospitals, which he said the agency would pay in three months.