The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is looking to increase its benefits for multiple illnesses by another 30 percent.
PhilHealth president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. on Tuesday said the increase in benefits is now being studied while it prepares the roll out of 12 more benefit packages for this year.
“We are working very hard to put the money into good use as we have received huge funding from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). We’re looking to increase the benefits to fully utilize the cash position of PhilHealth,” he said.
PhilHealth received a total budget of P101.51 billion from the DBM this year.
Sin taxes
Ledesma added that the state insurer obtains additional funds from sin taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and revenue shares from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation. He said these has accumulated to around P500 billion.
PhilHealth will be introducing increased benefits for multiple illnesses almost every month for this year, reaching a total of 18 benefit packages, according to Ledesma
Dr. Clementine Bautista, PhilHealth’s head for Universal Healthcare, said six packages have been launched. The new ones will include malnutrition, physical rehabilitation and kidney transplant packages.
The other packages are linked to dengue, hemorrhagic fever, heart diseases, and chemotherapies for lung, liver, ovarian and prostate cancers. They will be launched in November.
Expanded benefits
PhilHealth has already expanded benefits for over 9,000 conditions by 30 percent in February after the member contribution was raised from four percent to five percent.
This month, PhilHealth raised its benefits rate specifically for neonatal sepsis from P11,700 to P25,793 and the rate for bronchial asthma from P9,000 to P22,488.
“We have enough funds. I’m sure the DBM and other government agencies will assist us when they see that PhilHealth needs more funds. We are actively monitoring our operations and we will just continue doing our work,” Ledesma said.
He added PhilHealth is already exploring benefits for dental services, such as oral prophylaxis and free dentures, as requested by Senator Raffy Tulfo.
