‘PhilHealth fund remains strong, robust’

MANILA, Philippines —  The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. has assured its members anew of continuing benefit coverage and reiterated that their fund remains strong to meet its obligations in the long term.

Contrary to one newspaper’s erroneous claim citing last year’s projection of a net loss of P57 billion, PhilHealth instead ended 2021 with a net income of P32.84 billion, which is higher by P2.8 billion from the previous year.

This is after the Corporation has recognized a total of P140 billion in members’ benefit claims expense. Its total assets also rose by 27 percent with a total of P347.48 billion in 2021.

As of June 2022, the state-run insurer has a reserve fund of P188 billion, which is 6.7 percent higher than the P176.6 billion as of end of 2021. Such financial standing is a clear indication that it is financially stable and therefore is in strong position to sustain payment of benefits in the long term.

Contributions from Direct Contributors is one of the major funding streams as mandated by the Universal Health Care Law.

“The increase in collection efficiency of contributions from Direct Contributors, national government subsidy for premium of Indirect members, earnings from investment incomes, contribute to fund sustainability,” lawyer Eli Dino Santos, PhilHealth’s officer-in-charge stressed.