MANILA — The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is considering a significant 30-percent increase in all its benefit packages by the end of this year, aiming to further alleviate the financial burden of medical expenses for Filipinos.
According to Philippines News Agency, PhilHealth president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. announced the prospective hike. “We are in the process of studying another round of 30 percent [increase] almost across-the-board. I can commit to this Committee that this will happen before Christmas Day,” Ledesma stated. This follows a similar increase that took effect on February 14, 2024, which was implemented to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for health services among the public.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa supported the initiative, committing to a thorough review of the benefit packages to possibly include new medical procedures. “We will review as requested… all these packages we have also been pushing as chair in the PhilHealth Board of Directors as I have been telling the board,” Herbosa explained.
The push for expanded benefits was also championed by Agri party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee, who urged for an increase in benefits using PhilHealth’s considerable funds. In House Resolution No. 1900, Lee highlighted PhilHealth’s substantial financial resources, including the transfer of PHP89.9 billion in excess savings to the national treasury, which he argued demonstrates the agency’s capacity to enhance and possibly expand coverage to include more comprehensive hospitalization costs. Lee expressed a strong stance on the issue, warning that he would propose to defer the DOH’s 2025 budget during plenary deliberations if the enhancements are not satisfactorily addressed. “Hindi dapat pinatatagal ito. Hindi ko ito tatantanan hanggang maipatupad (We should not delay this. I won’t stop until this is implemented),” he asserted.