Health Secretary Ted Herbosa clarified on Monday that despite the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) receiving no subsidy under the proposed 2025 national budget, it has a surplus of P150 billion from its 2024 budget. This surplus, he said, can cover the subsidy for indirect members.
Herbosa, who also chairs the PhilHealth Board of Directors, explained that the subsidy for indirect contributors costs P5,000 per member. With approximately 16 million indirect members, PhilHealth would need P80 billion, which can easily be funded by the surplus.
“Sa 2024, 63% lang po ang utilization ng pera na in-allocate ng pamahalaan para sa PhilHealth [benefits]. Mababa ‘yun, diba? Kung sa atin [sa DOH], lagpak ‘yun—63%. Ibig sabihin nun, nagkaroon sila ng surplus of P150 billion,” he noted during the Department of Health (DOH) flag ceremony.
(In 2024, only 63% of the government-allocated funds for PhilHealth benefits were utilized. That’s low. For the DOH, this would be a failure—63%. This resulted in a P150 billion surplus.)
He added that PhilHealth has more than enough funds to cover the requested P74 billion subsidy for indirect contributors. “Mas marami pa ‘yung natira niya eh, P150 billion, [kaysa] hiningi natin na P74 billion. ‘Di ba prinesent ko sa Kongreso ay P74 billion subsidy for indirect [contributors]. Kayang-kaya bayaran ng PhilHealth ‘yung P74 billion dahil may sobra pa from last year.”
(PhilHealth has P150 billion left, which is more than the P74 billion we requested. I presented the P74 billion subsidy for indirect contributors to Congress. PhilHealth can easily pay that amount because of last year’s surplus.)
The removal of PhilHealth’s subsidy is linked to its P600 billion reserve funds, as revealed by Senate Finance Committee chairperson Grace Poe during discussions on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill. Under the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, PhilHealth has already accumulated over P280 billion in reserve funds, which can cover two years’ worth of benefits and operating expenses.
“Mali po ‘yung sinasabi ng mga kumukontra, na walang budget ang PhilHealth. Meron po. Napakalaki po ang [ia-approve] na budget ng Board ng PhilHealth. P284 billion po ang budget for 2025. Ang nawala po ay government subsidy,” Herbosa said.
(It’s wrong to claim that PhilHealth lacks a budget. The budget to be approved by the PhilHealth Board for 2025 is P284 billion. Only the government subsidy was removed.)
Despite the expected zero-subsidy arrangement, PhilHealth assured the public that its funds are sufficient to continue supporting beneficiaries. It also expressed hope that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. might reconsider the decision to cut the subsidy.
Meanwhile, the DOH confirmed that services under PhilHealth will remain unaffected. Separately, Senator JV Ejercito announced plans to push for an oversight committee hearing to evaluate the implementation of the UHC Act and address potential issues in PhilHealth’s operations.
