The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday assured the public that health benefits of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will continue with or without subsidy from the forthcoming General Appropriations Act.

In a statement, the DOH stressed that all of its inpatient, outpatient, and special benefit packages continue to be available.

According to the DOH, since August, the PhilHealth Board has already approved new or improved benefit packages for hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, dengue, PhilHealth Konsulta, and heart attacks.

It has also approved for implementation benefits for rare diseases, oral/dental health, physical medicine, and rehabilitation including assistive devices like wheelchairs, and kidney transplantation.

The Health department further noted that five more new or improved benefits are already for approval before the Christmas break, including those for emergency care, glasses for children, another round of increases in case rates, open heart surgery, heart valve repair or replacement, and cataract extraction especially in children.

“The job of PhilHealth is to pay the health benefits of its members, with or without subsidy from the General Appropriations Act,” DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa, who also serves as the chair of the PhilHealth Board, said.

“We reviewed the financial statements of PhilHealth together with its established performance, and the DOH is confident that it has enough money to continue and even improve operations in the next two to three years,” Herbosa added.

PhilHealth’s total benefit spending in 2023 was P74 billion. From 1 January to 30 September 2024, with just three remaining months to the yearend, the agency's benefit spending has been estimated to be at P135 billion.

At the end of calendar year 2023, PhilHealth’s accumulated net income was recorded to be P463.7 billion.

Following the Universal Health Care Act, PhilHealth has already secured a Reserve Fund of P280.6 billion good for two years’ worth of benefit and other operating expenses, the DOH explained.

The social health insurance agency counted its surplus fund balance to be at least P183.1 billion at the start of 2024, it further explained.

DOH’s statement came following Committee on Finance chair Senator Grace Poe’s confirmation that PhilHealth will receive no government subsidy for 2025, citing its reserve funds amounting to P600 billion.