MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa’s call to suspend the implementation of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) premium rate hike was backed on Wednesday by several senators who noted that the country is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, chairperson of the Senate panel on health and demography, specifically stated that there’s no need for the government to “burden” Filipinos by immediately increasing their PhilHealth contributions.
Instead, Go urged PhilHealth to eradicate anomalies in the agency.
“Sabi ng Department of Health, sapat pa naman ang pondo ng PhilHealth upang patuloy na makapagbigay ng maayos na serbisyo sa mga miyembro nito. Bilang chair ng Senate committee on health, panawagan ko naman sa pamunuan ng PhilHealth ay tuluyang sugpuin ang mga anomalya sa ahensya, pagbutihin ang serbisyo nito at siguraduhing bawat piso sa pondo ng taumbayan ay nagagamit para sa mga Pilipino,” said Go in a statement.
(The Department of Health said PhilHealth’s funds are still sufficient to continue to provide proper services to its members. As chairman of the Senate committee on health, I call on the leadership of PhilHealth to combat the anomalies in the agency, improve its service and make sure that every peso in the people’s fund is used for Filipinos.)
Senator JV Ejercito, meantime, stressed the need for the nation to recover from the pandemic.
Ejercito, principal sponsor of the Universal Health Care law, said Herbosa’s proposal is timely.
“There is a pending bill that I filed on amendments to the UHC to adjust premium rates as we are still recovering from the pandemic,” Ejercito told reporters in a Viber message.
“We have done studies on the numbers and Philhealth said it will not affect the benefits and packages,” he added.
The Presidential Communications Office on Wednesday said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself is studying Herbosa’s request.