Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto assured the public that the use of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)’s sleeping funds for the government’s priority programs and projects will do no harm to its members nor on its plans to expand its benefit packages this year.
“The Department of Finance’s [DOF] move is consistent with the medical principle of ‘do no harm’. Inuulit ko, hindi maapektuhan ang pang-araw-araw na operasyon ng PhilHealth dahil dito at hindi po gagalawin ang kontribusyon ng mga miyembro ng PhilHealth,” he said.
“Ni isang kusing, walang kaltas sa mga benepisyong matatanggap ng mga miyembro. Ayon pa nga sa Presidente, mas tataas pa nga ang mga benepisyo ng mga miyembro sa taong ito,” Secretary Recto added.
In fact, the Finance Chief said that even if the PHP 89.9 billion unused government subsidies will be transferred to the National Treasury, PhilHealth is still equipped with more than half a trillion pesos or around PHP 550 billion in its coffers, which is more than enough to increase the benefits of its direct and indirect contributors, covering two to three years of expenses.
“Madadagdagan ang benepisyo ng PhilHealth, at kahit dadagdagan ‘to, malaki pa ang kita ng PhilHealth, at ‘yung kinuha lang natin dito ay ‘di galing sa contributions ng members. Ito ay galing sa subsidiya ng gobyerno,” he said.
“Yung benefit packages sa mga miyembro ng PhilHealth, dadagdagan sa taon na ito ng mahigit 30%. Tapos ang malulubhang sakit katulad ng breast cancer, binibigay ngayon 100,000 pesos, gagawing 1.4 million. At marami pang iba,” Secretary Recto explained.
By the end of 2024, the Finance Chief said that PhilHealth will have a net income of PHP 61.18 billion. The income of PhilHealth has steadily increased since 2019, from PHP 4.66 billion to PHP 173.46 billion in 2023.
In addition, PhilHealth will receive another PHP 70 billion-worth of government subsidies next year.
“Trabaho namin sa DOF na maghanap ng sapat na pondo para suportahan ang gastusin ng pamahalaan na umaabot ng PHP 15.8 bilyon kada araw nang hindi nagpapataw ng karagdagang buwis o utang,” Secretary Recto said.
“May mga natutulog na pera na binabayaran pa natin ng interest, mas mabuti na kung hindi nagagamit ang iba diyan at natutulog lang, sayang naman, gamitin natin,” he added.
The DOF’s move to sweep idle funds of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) is in line with Congress’ order under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2024 to fund the Unprogrammed Appropriations.
The initial PhilHealth remittance of PHP 20 billion to the National Treasury was used to cover the health emergency allowances of health workers and frontliners worth PHP 27.5 billion representing 5.04 million claims.
The rest of the funds will be used to support projects on nutrition, education, agriculture, social development, and infrastructure, which would have numerous benefits to the public.
According to the DOF’s cost-benefit analysis, the projects to be funded under the Unprogrammed Appropriations will hike real [gross domestic product] GDP growth by 0.7%, increase an additional PHP 23 billion to 24.4 billion in revenues, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
“Lalong lumago ang ekonomiya, ‘di natin kailangan umutang, kikita ang gobyerno, mababawasan pa natin ‘yung utang natin, at mababawasan ang kahirapan sa ating bansa,” the Finance Chief stressed.
“Once again, I assure the Filipino people that there is no advocate more committed to higher health spending than the DOF. Bukas po lagi ang pinto ng DOF para makipag-ugnayan at pakinggan ang inyong mga hinaing at rekomendasyon ukol sa isyu na ito,” he said.
