PhilHealth benefits, services to continue

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 a subsidy in the forthcoming General Appropriations Act.

In a statement, the DoH said that all its inpatient, outpatient, and special benefit packages continue to be available.

According to the department, the PhilHealth board in August had approved new or improved benefit packages for hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, dengue, PhilHealth Konsulta, and heart attacks.

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

The Health department noted that five more new or improved benefits are up for approval before the Christmas break, including for emergency care, eyeglasses 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 a subsidy in the General Appropriations Act,” Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, who is also the chairman of the PhilHealth board, said.

“We reviewed the financial statements of PhilHealth together with its established performance, and the DoH is confident it has enough money to continue and even improve operations,” Herbosa said.

PhilHealth has cash for two, three years

The DoH said it was confident the state insurer has the cash on hand to continue and even improve benefit deliveries well into the next two to three years.

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

At the end of 2023, PhilHealth’s accumulated net income was at P463.7 billion.

Following the Universal Health Care Act, PhilHealth has secured a reserve fund of P280.6 billion good for two years’ worth of benefits and other operating expenses, the DoH said.

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

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.