Why does PhilHealth have P90B in unused funds, asks lawmaker

While the Supreme Court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) has halted the transfer of the remainder of the P89.9 billion in excess PhilHealth funds to the national treasury, a lawmaker emphasized the need to investigate how the funds were accumulated.

The TRO issued by the SC last Tuesday effectively halted the scheduled transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion of the PhilHealth funds, a decision welcomed by both petitioners and critics of the transfer.

The excess funds were reportedly amounts that went dormant within the state-run health insurer from 2021 to 2023.

However, the bigger question, according to Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes, is how PhilHealth had nearly P90 billion in unused funds — which were subsidies that were provided by the national government.

“The temporary restraining order does not address the merits of the case, but it seeks to preserve the status quo as of its issuance,” Ordanes said.

The lawmaker said that while the Supreme Court was not a “trier of facts,” he hoped it could “ascertain why PhilHealth had excess funds in the first place,” since the case is already under review.

“But even if the SC does not find the answer to that, perhaps the justices can point us to the reasons PhilHealth has unused billions from the national government’s subsidies to it,” he said.

PhilHealth receives an annual subsidy from the national government to cover the cost of premiums for indirect contributors, including indigent individuals and senior citizens, under the Universal Health Care (UHC) program.

According to Ordanes, there might have been a grave lapse in oversight by PhilHealth, which is attached to the Department of Health (DoH), due to the “inherent flaw in the UHC Act that serves as the PhilHealth Charter.”

Ordanes hoped the case pending before the Supreme Court will clarify the “misconception” about the true role and purpose of PhilHealth, which he believes has contributed to the state insurer’s ineffectiveness in fund management.

“PhilHealth is not a healthcare agency because PhilHealth is a finance agency and, therefore, it should be attached to the Department of Finance, not the DoH,” he said.

Since 2014, PhilHealth has been one of the top recipients of the largest yearly subsidies provided by the national government to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs).

In 2022, PhilHealth received a record-breaking P80 billion, significantly higher than the P71.3 billion in 2021 and last year’s P79 billion. However, the subsidy for the current year dropped to P40.3 billion due to its high excess funds.

Earlier, the DoF said that PhilHealth could end 2024 with roughly P550 billion in unspent funds, despite returning the P89.9 billion to the national treasury.

In April, the DoF issued Memorandum Circular No. 003-2024 instructing GOCCs, including PhilHealth, to remit their idle funds to the national treasury to bankroll unprogrammed appropriations under Republic Act 11975 or the 2024 General Appropriations Act.