DBM releases over P2B for health insurance of indigent PhilHealth members

PhilHealth signage. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Monday said it has released a total of P2.02 billion to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) as a subsidy to the health insurance premium of its indigent members.

This was after DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman approved the release of the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) covering the remaining 673,965 indigent members under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) for January to December 2022.

“We are happy that before this year ends, we were able to cover the remaining subsidy for the health premiums of our kababayans,” Pangandaman said in a statement.

“This is our way of showing that the DBM supports President Marcos Jr.’s goal of providing affordable and inclusive health care for all Filipinos,” she added.

The DBM said the latest release is chargeable against the fiscal year 2022 built-in appropriation under the PHIC’s National Health Insurance Program (NHIP).

The agency added that it has released over P79.93 billion through three separate SAROs for the subsidy, corresponding to various billings for the entire year (January to December 2022).

This, DBM said, the health insurance premiums of over 21.1 billion indirect contributors.

“Maganda po ang hangarin ng National Health Insurance Program. That is why we made sure that the program will have a continuous fund for next year. In fact, for fiscal year 2023, the DBM has allocated over P100 billion for its implementation,” Pangandaman said.

(The intention of the National Health Insurance Program is good.)

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