Huge gaps in healthcare in the country as a result of the meager funding of programs to realize the aspirations of the Universal Healthcare Act are being covered by private organizations and an official of a conglomerate told Nosy Tarsee it is now a profit driver.
Two of the country’s biggest conglomerates, Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), are making their presence felt through massive investments in the sector.
The law primarily provides for free hospitalization and medicines, but spotty implementation by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has made healthcare insufficient for many.
Under the 2019 Universal Health Care Act, all Filipinos are enrolled in the National Health Insurance Program, which is supposed to provide a full range of both preventive and treatment services.
But the number of hospital beds per 10,000 Filipinos stands at just nine, a level comparable to the poorest countries in the world, and sharply contrasts with regional peers like Vietnam at 31 and Singapore at 28.
The shortage of services means many people feel compelled to seek private treatment, resulting in high out-of-pocket expenses, as state-run health insurer PhilHealth covers only a fraction of the costs based on predetermined payments for each service.
World Bank data showed Filipino households still shoulder 44.4 percent of their total health care costs, a figure that is among the highest in the region.
Such a situation offered a business opportunity for big business, which recognized the rising disposable incomes of the middle class and the UHC Act as a guaranteed revenue stream.
Ayala’s health care unit, Ayala Healthcare Holdings, better known as AC Health, has pursued a strategy focused on vertical integration and creating a seamless patient ecosystem.
Metro Pacific Health, the health care arm of MPIC, on the other hand, has employed a consolidation strategy via a string of acquisitions and partnerships that began in 2007 with the Makati Medical Center and saw it invest P19.2 billion between 2019 and 2024. This has created what is now the Philippines’ largest private hospital network.
The poor, however, remain left out as they are at the mercy of PhilHealth, the resources of which are being siphoned off by the predators of public funds.