PhilHealth's many controversies: A timeline
The unprecedented decision by Congress to withdraw all national budget subsidies for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in 2025 — and to consider suspending the collection of member premiums —delivers a significant blow to its usual operations.
Even as it grapples with controversies, the agency has attempted to address public health demands by raising benefit packages for conditions like severe dengue and expanding coverage for oral health and heart procedures. Yet lawmakers continue to call for sweeping reforms, with critics arguing that this funding cut threatens Filipinos’ right to accessible healthcare.
On the other hand, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros has questioned the constitutionality of granting zero subsidies to PhilHealth under the proposed ₱6.352 trillion 2025 national budget. She maintains that withholding government support undermines the health rights of millions of Filipinos — rights meant to be safeguarded by law.
PhilHealth's travails in 2024 have culminated in the appointment of a new president and CEO.
Below is a concise timeline of PhilHealth’s key developments and controversies from 2024 to 2025, illustrating both the agency’s efforts to expand benefits and the mounting demands for accountability.
31 July 2024
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go criticizes unspent PhilHealth funds, particularly the ₱89.9 billion “excess funds” slated for transfer to the National Treasury.
Senator Bong Go has been a staunch advocate for public health and a critic of PhilHealth.
Senator Bong Go on Facebook
19 August
Over 65 medical organizations and former Department of Health leaders voice their opposition to PhilHealth’s proposed fund transfer to the National Treasury.
11 September
Senator Go demands accountability from PhilHealth, urging the agency to expand its benefits in accordance with the Universal Health Care Law.
3 October
In response to Senator Bong Go’s appeal, PhilHealth has officially scrapped its single period of confinement policy, which previously limited beneficiaries to coverage for the same illness only once within a 90-day period. The policy change took effect on 1 October.
