Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Monday, 15 December, flagged the sharp increase in the proposed 2026 budget of the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP), warning that it could weaken the country’s push for a universal health care system.

In a manifestation submitted to the bicameral conference committee on the 2026 national budget, Ejercito urged fellow lawmakers to reconsider the MAIFIP allocation, which rose from P24.23 billion under the National Expenditure Program to P51.6 billion in the bicameral version.

Ejercito, a conferee of the bicameral panel who was unable to attend the deliberations due to illness, said the proposed increase could be viewed as “politically mediated access to healthcare.”

“This counters the goal of strengthening systemic, universal coverage under the Universal Health Care Act. It risks trading higher PhilHealth participation in hospital bills, lower out-of-pocket expenses, and even the dignity of patients for political patronage,” he said.

“This is not what we have envisioned when we crafted the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act. The government is obligated to have a healthy population,” he added in a mix of Filipino and English.

Instead of increasing MAIFIP funding, Ejercito recommended channeling the funds directly to PhilHealth “as the first payor of healthcare expenses” or allocating them to hospitals implementing zero balance billing.

“Let's give the fund straight to the health system, hospitals, and patients. Filipinos should not beg just to access basic health services,” he added.

“If our goal is to ensure proper medical assistance to the poor and to those just one illness away from poverty, we must seriously reconsider the massive increase in MAIFIP.”