Manila: Majority of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s (PhilHealth) PHP60 billion remittance went to health and social services, data from the Department of Finance (DOF) showed. In a statement Wednesday, the DOF said out of the PHP60 billion remittance of excess funds from PhilHealth, 78 percent or PHP4.61 billion was used to fund key health and social services.
According to Philippines News Agency, the largest chunk, worth PHP27.45 billion, was used to settle the public health emergency benefits and allowances for healthcare and non-healthcare workers who served and risked their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. The DOF said PHP10 billion was utilized to provide Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients, while PHP4.10 billion financed the procurement of various medical equipment for the Department of Health (DOH) hospitals, local government unit (LGU) hospitals, and primary care facilities.
About PHP3.37 billion funded the construction of three DOH health facilities, while PHP1.69 billion went to the health facilities enhancement program. The DOF said PHP13 billion was used to fund government counterpart financing for foreign-assisted infrastructure and ‘social determinants for health’ projects. It said these would accelerate the delivery of healthcare services to remote areas and enhance the health and well-being of Filipinos by ensuring food security.
These projects include the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges; the Metro Manila Subway Project; the Philippine Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project; the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project; the Cebu-Mactan Bridge and Coastal Road Construction Project; the North-South Commuter Railway System; the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling Project; the Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project; and the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project, among others.
The DOF said Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra highlighted these during the second round of oral arguments in the Supreme Court on Feb. 25. Guevarra also noted that the transfer of PhilHealth’s excess funds has spurred its recent expansion of health benefits. ‘PhilHealth has been increasing its benefit packages even before Special Provision 1(d) came into effect, and more so after that special provision was enacted as part of the unprogrammed appropriations. We have seen [benefits] increase over the past several months,’ he said.
As of 2024, PhilHealth has PHP498 billion cash in its war chest, more than enough to continue increasing its inpatient, outpatient, and special benefit packages. The oral arguments on the consolidated petitions will resume on March 4.
