Pres. Bongbong Marcos Breaks Silence on PhilHealth Zero Subsidy for 2025
BONGBONG MARCOS – The Philippine President asserted that the fund will only be stucked in the bank account of PhilHealth if they will be subsized.
The lawmakers have decided on the budget appropriations for the different government offices in 2025. Countless people were surprised when Senator Grace Poe announced that they have decided that the state health insurer will be denied of a subsidy next year.
According to Poe, PhilHealth must use its billions of reserve funds that are only kept in its bank account. The Senator stressed that the government is getting losses over the small earnings that the saved amount makes.
Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero also blatantly said that the lapses of PhilHealth is the reason behind their zero subsidy for 2025. According to the Senate President, the reserve funds allegedly show that the state health insurer has failed in its function.
Escudero pointed out that PhilHealth has failed to follow the “no billing policy” mandate under the Universal Healthcare Law. According to him, he hopes that this will be a wake up call to the state entity.
PhilHealth claimed that it will appeal the zero subsidy decision of the lawmakers. According to the state health insurer, it will write a letter to Pres. Bongbong Marcos over the issue.
However, recently, Pres. Bongbong Marcos has spoken on the issue. Based on a report on GMA News, the Chief Executive defended the decision of the lawmakers and stressed that PhilHealth still has P500 billion in its reserve funds.
Marcos stressed that PhilHealth needs P100 billion annually for its operation. He emphasized that the state health insurer has enought funds to do what it wants to do.
“The reason why we do not want to subsidize is because the subsidy, uupo lang sa bank account ng PhilHealth. Hindi magagamit…That’s the simple explanation. They have sufficient funds to carry on,” the President said.
Based on the report, Pres. Bongbong Marcos also stressed that PhilHealth must digitize its processes so the people’s transactions can be done fast. Amid the issue, an economist said that the right punishment is the removal of the PhilHealth executives.