Finance Secretary Ralph Recto

MANILA, Philippines –  The 2025 national budget has been signed without subsidy for state health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) because they don’t need it. 

This is the simple explanation of Budget Secretary Ralph Recto on Monday (December 30) after President Marcos Jr. signed into law the P6.326 trillion budget echoing the stand of lawmakers who cut the allocation for the agency due to its substantial reserve funds. 

“The Corporate operating budget of PhilHealth is sufficient. They have reserve funds of roughly P280 billion. They have a surplus of P150 billion the last time I looked at it. They have investments of more than P400 billion. They will earn P200 billion in 2025 [and] they will spend a P150 billion so ‘yung surplus nila madadagdagan na naman ng P50 billion ‘yan so they have adequate resources,” he said. 

In turn, the Department of Finance next year will make sure that funds for PhilHealth will be spent appropriately.  

“Maybe we should concentrate on the top 10 illnesses, palagay ko yun lang, itaas natin 100%, 200% benefit package of the top 10 illnesses, malaki ang pakinabang ng taumbayan diyan,” Recto suggested. 

PhilHealth was given zero subsidy for 2025 primarily because it still has a substantive budget of over P600 billion. Last December 11, the Bicameral Conference Committee of Congress cut the proposed P74.43 billion subsidy for 2025 supposedly because its reserves can still very well cover its costs. 

The House of Representatives version of the budget earned massive criticisms from fellow lawmakers especially in the Senate. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian expressed disappointment that the Senate-pushed budgetary support was not reflected in the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill. 

Senators Risa Hontiveros, JV Ejercito, and Bong Go aired concerns on the zero subsidy for PhilHealth under the proposed 2025 budget.

In a statement, Hontiveros said the zero budget for PhilHealth is “unfair, illegal, and potentially unconstitutional.”

She stressed that it is the obligation of the government to support the premiums of indirect contributors such as senior citizens, indigents, and persons with disabilities.

Ejercito, who was among the principal authors of the Universal Health Care Act, said the move might have fruit legal questions. 

Go also expressed “strong reservations” against PhilHealth budget removal.