Newly appointed Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) chief Dr. Edwin Mercado pledged to address the issues surrounding the state insurer and tackle its “illnesses.”

In a Palace briefing, Mercado highlighted PhilHealth’s inefficiencies, particularly in standardizing financial report recordings. “It’s difficult to analyze when financial reports have different definitions. There are standard accounting definitions, so that’s what we’ll define first to ensure clean and transparent reporting,” he said.

He also emphasized the need for PhilHealth’s digitization to better monitor insurance claims.

Mercado noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had instructed him to expand the services offered by PhilHealth to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for patients. “A mature health system limits catastrophic spending — when more than 10 percent of your household income, excluding food, is spent on healthcare. This should be reduced by 25 percent to 27 percent,” Mercado explained.

He added that expanding benefits would be crucial, and with accurate data on healthcare costs, they could better advocate for future budget increases if necessary.

PhilHealth received zero subsidies in the 2025 national budget, though Marcos emphasized that the state insurer has sufficient funds to support current members and expand its services.

Mercado succeeded Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. as PhilHealth’s new president on Tuesday.