President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is currently reviewing the appeal of Health Secretary Ted Herbosa to suspend the scheduled hike to 5 percent of contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, or PhilHealth, in 2024.

A Palace official confirmed this on Wednesday after PhilHealth announced an increase in premium rates from 4 percent to 5 percent that would affect individuals earning between P10,000 and P100,000.

“The President is studying the request,” Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil told Palace reporters in a Viber message.

In a recent media forum, Herbosa said postponing the premium increase would not have a substantial impact on the financial position of the state health insurer.

He said that PhilHealth “has enough money to continue giving benefits.”

“It will not be hurt by delaying the increase in premiums. I need to see good actuarial. You need to have a science-based policy,” he added.

“There are other things supporting healthcare. MAIP (Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients) is one of them, where I was given an additional P40 billion. You have to look at the big picture, not only at PhilHealth,” he said.

Republic Act 11223, the Universal Healthcare Law, initially mandated a 0.5-percent increase in PhilHealth contributions starting in 2020. This premium escalated to 4 percent by 2022.

Nevertheless, towards the end of that year, the Office of the President issued a memorandum suspending a premium hike for 2023 due to socioeconomic challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, the directive maintained PhilHealth premiums at 4 percent in 2023.