By Robert B, Roque, Jr.
While previous administrations advocated for a national health plan, this administration is abandoning it altogether — dismantling a system that millions of Filipinos rely on to shield themselves from crippling medical expenses.
We now have a government that refuses to aid in cushioning the prohibitive and ever-rising costs of illness and hospitalization for most Filipinos.
It’s easy to surmise that the most vulnerable in this scenario are the children and the elderly — millions whose healthcare security is entirely dependent on the capacity of their closest kin and benefits from the state.
What’s lamentable is that as we enter the age of modern medical miracles driven by technological advancements and innovation, only patients who are privileged and elite can avail themselves of these options to return to full health.
All too often, these are well beyond the reach of most Filipinos due to low family income levels. This is where PhilHealth programs are supposed to kick in.
The Bicameral Conference Committee ratified the measure for zero budget to subsidize PhilHealth’s programs.
Aren’t we already frustrated by the poor services and meager benefits we receive whenever we fall ill? It’s disheartening to know that while premium payments will continue for every PhilHealth member, there is no room for any expansion of PhilHealth coverage.
The President is telling the nation that the state health insurance firm has a reserve fund that is over and beyond the projected ₱150 billion it spends annually.
Economist Cielo Magno, following a snub of her letter to Congress regarding the matter, explained that even if PhilHealth has around ₱460 billion in reserve funds, its future liabilities change the equation entirely.
She claims that once the total insurance contract liabilities are computed against the total members’ equity, the result would be negative. She also explained that as a policy, PhilHealth is constrained to keep a reserve fund — not to be touched — equivalent to two years of its annual exposure.
For any among our more wisecracking-than-intelligent lawmakers who failed to see this, may we remind you that only a few years ago was the nation — and the whole world — hit by a chilling pandemic!
To soften the hearts of the nation to this blatant act of Congress, Speaker Martin Romualdez and his minions are cooking up a measure to suspend premium payments to PhilHealth for a year. That’s even more absurd — undermining the financial health of the country’s prime source of medical assistance.
Truly, there is something wrong in the head of this government in treating healthcare, as though it were an expendable line item instead of a lifeline — a wanton disregard for the Universal Health Care Law.
Whatever happened to the vision of ensuring that every Filipino, regardless of social standing, can access adequate healthcare?
And as if to add insult to injury, PhilHealth is busy with plans for a multimillion-peso celebration, according to Sen. Bong Go. A proposed budget of ₱137.7 million for its 30th anniversary — including ₱7.9 million for tokens, ₱18.3 million for gala nights, and ₱32.7 million for a sports fest — borders on blasphemy.
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