FINANCE Secretary Ralph G. Recto assured the public that the use of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)’s sleeping funds for the government’s priority programs and projects will not harm its members nor its plans to expand its benefit packages this year.
“The Department of Finance’s [DOF] move is consistent with the medical principle of ‘do no harm’. Inuulit ko, hindi maapektuhan ang pang-araw-araw na operasyon ng PhilHealth dahil dito at hindi po gagalawin ang kontribusyon ng mga miyembro ng PhilHealth (The Department of Finance’s [DOF] move is consistent with the medical principle of ‘do no harm.’ I repeat, PhilHealth's daily operations will not be affected by this, and the contributions of PhilHealth members will not be touched),” he said.
“Ni isang kusing, walang kaltas sa mga benepisyong matatanggap ng mga miyembro. Ayon pa nga sa Presidente, mas tataas pa nga ang mga benepisyo ng mga miyembro sa taong ito (Not a single cent will be deducted from the benefits that members will receive. According to the President, the members' benefits will even increase this year),” Recto added.
The Finance Chief said that even if the P89.9 billion unused government subsidies will be transferred to the National Treasury, PhilHealth is still equipped with more than half a trillion pesos or around P550 billion in its coffers, which is more than enough to increase the benefits of its direct and indirect contributors, covering two to three years of expenses.
"Madadagdagan ang benepisyo ng PhilHealth, at kahit dadagdagan 'to, malaki pa ang kita ng PhilHealth, at ‘yung kinuha lang natin dito ay ‘di galing sa contributions ng members. Ito ay galing sa subsidiya ng gobyerno," he said.
"Yung benefit packages sa mga myembro ng PhilHealth, dadagdagan sa taon na ito ng mahigit 30 percent. Tapos ang malulubhang sakit katulad ng breast cancer, binibigay ngayon 100,000 pesos, gagawing 1.4 million. At marami pang iba The benefit packages for PhilHealth members will be increased by over 30 percent this year. For severe illnesses like breast cancer, which currently receive P100,000, the coverage will be raised to 1.4 million. And there are many more enhancements)," Secretary Recto explained.
By the end of 2024, the Finance Chief said that PhilHealth will have a net income of P61.18 billion. The income of PhilHealth has steadily increased since 2019, from P4.66 billion to P 173.46 billion in 2023.
In addition, PhilHealth will receive another P70 billion worth of government subsidies next year which will be used to expand its benefit packages.
“Trabaho namin sa DOF na maghanap ng sapat na pondo para suportahan ang gastusin ng pamahalaan na umaabot ng P15.8 bilyon kada araw nang hindi nagpapataw ng karagdagang buwis o utang (Our job at the DOF is to find sufficient funding to support the government's expenses, which amount to P15.8 billion per day, without imposing additional taxes or taking on more debt),” he said.
"May mga natutulog na pera na binabayaran pa natin ng interest, mas mabuti na kung hindi nagagamit ang iba diyan at natutulog lang, sayang naman, gamitin natin," he added.
The DOF’s move to sweep idle funds of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) is in line with Congress’ order under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2024 to fund the Unprogrammed Appropriations.
The initial PhilHealth remittance of P20 billion to the National Treasury was used to cover the health emergency allowances of health workers and frontliners worth P 27.5 billion representing 5.04 million claims.
The rest of the funds will be used to support projects on nutrition, education, agriculture, social development, and infrastructure, which would have numerous benefits to the public.
According to the DOF’s cost-benefit analysis, the projects to be funded under the Unprogrammed Appropriations will hike real [gross domestic product] GDP growth by 0.7 percent, increase an additional P23-24.4 billion in revenues, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. PR