P67 billion allotted for expanded health care

MANILA, Philippines — The government is ramping up funding for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in preparation for the implementation this year of the expanded or universal health care (UHC) program.

The UHC aims to enlist all the more than 100 million Filipinos under PhilHealth coverage.

Congress has increased taxpayers’ subsidy for PhilHealth this year by P7.3 billion to P67.3 billion from last year’s P60 billion.

The subsidy is included in the still-to-be-enacted P3.757-trillion 2019 appropriations bill.

Under the proposed budget, all of the P67.3 billion is to be used for the expanded health care program, except for four percent,which could be spent for administrative expenses.

As the Department of Health (DOH) and PhilHealth prepare to implement the program, Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan, who chairs the House of Representatives committee on health, urged the two agencies to reconcile their figures on the UHC law’s funding requirements.

She said while Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and PhilHealth president Roy Ferrer agree that the law would require up to P270 billion a year, they differ on the funding deficit.

She noted that the funding gap is P40 billion for Duque and P22 billion for Ferrer.

In an interview last week, Ferrer said PhilHealth was expecting “P18 billion from the GAA (general appropriations act),” reducing the P40-billion shortfall to P22 billion.

He said they expect to use P217 billion in premium collections for the UHC program, plus contributions from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. (PCSO).

Tan, one of the authors of the UHC law, clarified that the proposed subsidy for PhilHealth in the proposed 2019 budget is P67.3 billion and not P18 billion.

She said it is important that the DOH and PhilHealth revisit their figures and come up with realistic projections since the implementation of the UHC program “will depend on the available funds.”

“If the funds are short, then they will have to scale down health services. They should not raise false hopes among the intended beneficiaries,” she said.

She expressed doubts on whether PhilHealth could use for the program all of the P217 billion it is projecting in premium collections.

“Assuming their projection is correct, they will have to deduct from that operational expenses, including salaries,” Tan said.

She maintained that excluding PhilHealth premiums, only up to P100 billion is available this year for expanded health care – P67.3 billion from the 2019 budget and the balance of more than P30 billion from Pagcor and PCSO.

Tan also said the two health agencies should not count on the proposed increase in sin taxes as a funding source this year because the outgoing 17th Congress is not expected to approve the proposal.