PhilHealth urged to use funds to help needy

A LAWMAKER said on Friday that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) should not act as mere repository of investments but instead use its money to aid indigent patients.

AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee said that the state health insurer has more than P466 billion in investible funds on top of government subsidies amounting to P100 billion.

But despite the huge money at its disposal, PhilHealth has been paying only a small fraction of its members' medical bills.

«They cannot feel the benefits because their out-of-pocket expenses are high. I have been hearing lots of stories including that of a father who paid a large medical bill after his wife gave birth and that PhilHealth only deducted P3,000 [from it],» Lee said.

During a House of Representatives meeting on Wednesday, PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. told Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez that PhilHealth was due to increase its benefit packages and the 30 percent increase in coverage rate had already started on February 14.

But Lee said some illnesses like cancer require very expensive treatment, hence the need for more help from PhilHealth.

«There is no rule as to how much they should invest. If they have excess funds, we can use it to invest, but their mandate should be that they can only invest if their services are good,» Lee said.

He suggested that rich Filipinos should give higher contributions to the state health insurer and that the poor be exempted from it.