Press Release - Chiz says Philhealth can afford to bring down member contribution rates

Senate President Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero said the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) can afford to slash the mandatory contribution paid by its members due to the huge amount of unutilized funds that it has accumulated over the years.

Citing figures from the Department of Finance that the reserve fund of PhilHealth has now reached close to P500 billion plus the substantial government subsidy to the state health insurance firm every year, Escudero said there is more than enough resources to cover for a reduction in the premium contributions of its members.

"May mahigit kumulang P500 billion pa silang sobrang pera na pwedeng i-absorb kaugnay sa pagbabayad nga ng buwanang premium. Ang total subsidy ng pamahalaan para sa premium kada taon ay humigit kumulang P70 billion," Escudero said.

The national government provides an annual subsidy to PhilHealth for the implementation of the National Health Insurance Program, primarily to cover for the premiums of the indirect contributors that include indigents and senior citizens.

In 2021, the subsidy to PhilHealth amounted to P71.3 billion. This went up to P80 billion in 2022, P79 billion in 2023 and for this year, it was down to P40.3 billion.

Escudero pointed out that the huge subsidies allocated annually to PhilHealth, coupled with its continually increasing reserve fund, provide the state health insurer ample room to reduce the premium rate of its members.

Assuming the average subsidy to PhilHealth is at P70 billion, Escudero argued that the government would still be able to reallocate a significant amount of funding for other purposes for seven years if the said subsidies were to be sourced from the firm's reserve fund.

"Pero imbes na gawin 'yon, isa sa mga istratehiya na pwede nilang pag-aralan ay ang gamitin na lang (ang reserve fund) para pababain yung premium na karamihan naman ay gobyerno rin ang nagbabayad," Escudero said.

The Senate President has been pointing out to PhilHealth that it is losing around P20 billion a year in terms of value by not utilizing its P500 billion reserve fund.

"Kaya para sa akin mas maganda na gamitin ang perang 'yan para matulungan ang ating mga kababayan sa