PhilHealth funds 'diversion' slammed

(UPDATES) MORE than 60 health care worker groups on Friday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order the return of the P89.9 billion in unused funds to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

The groups stressed in a press conference that the fund should be used to meet the health care needs of the underprivileged.

«We denounce the Department of Finance's (DoF) diversion of P89.9 billion of this inappropriate excess for purposes other than the service of the patients we care for,» they said.

The Department of Health (DoH) said on Thursday that P27.5 billion of the unused funds will be used to pay the health emergency allowance (HEA) of government medical workers.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman released the HEA funds on July 5 in compliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s directive to clear all pending hazard pay enhancement allowances for health care workers.

Health workers protest in front of the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital in Manila on July 19, 2024 as they call to demand for higher wages and to denounce understaffing in hospitals. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Health workers protest in front of the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital in Manila on July 19, 2024 as they call to demand for higher wages and to denounce understaffing in hospitals. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Health workers protest in front of the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital in Manila on July 19, 2024 as they call to demand for higher wages and to denounce understaffing in hospitals. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Health workers protest in front of the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital in Manila on July 19, 2024 as they call to demand for higher wages and to denounce understaffing in hospitals. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Health workers protest in front of the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital in Manila on July 19, 2024 as they call to demand for higher wages and to denounce understaffing in hospitals. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

The allocation covers payments for 5,039,926 unpaid HEA claims and 4,283 Covid-19 sickness and death compensation claims for eligible workers.

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Bu Castro, former president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), said that if the funds are not returned