MANILA – Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson questioned the government’s progress in implementing Universal Health Care (UHC), pointing to repeatedly revised spending targets and gaps between projected and actual health expenditures.

During the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Department of Health’s 2027 budget on Friday, Lacson raised concerns over the usefulness of successive UHC financing strategies, noting that spending targets have shifted between low, medium and high levels since the program was rolled out in 2020.

“Isang napansin ko since rollout, laging papalit-palit ang ating spending plans. Kaya tanong ko, where are we at in the implementation of the UHC? Kasi pupunta tayo ng medium, bababa tayo ng low, wala pa tayo sa high. Ang alam kong timeline, after six years from 2020 to 2026, dapat sa high end ang coverage, lahat na. Nasaan po tayo ngayon (One thing I noticed since the UHC rolled out in 2020, the spending plans kept changing. Where are we in the implementation of the UHC? We first aimed for medium-end, then low-end. From what I understand, we should have had high-end coverage in 2026. Where are we now)?” he said.

Lacson cited the Department of Health’s Medium Term Expenditure Program covering 2019 to 2022, which identified three spending scenarios for UHC.

The low-end, or status quo scenario, required P168.23 billion, while the medium scenario, which covered selected priority areas, was pegged at P257.08 billion. The high-end scenario, which envisioned coverage in all barangays nationwide, was set at P286.33 billion.

The spending projections were subsequently revised under the 2020 to 2023 MTEP. The revised plan placed the low-end target at P199.01 billion and the high-end target at P469.39 billion.

Another set of projections was later established under the Health Care Financing Strategy for 2023 to 2028, with P329.7 billion allocated as the low target, P456.53 billion as the medium target and P593.647 billion as the high target.

Actual health spending in 2022, however, amounted to P283.52 billion.

“Kung lagi nating nami-miss ang target para saan ang ating ginagawang financing strategies (If we keep missing the targets, what are our financing strategies for)?” Lacson asked.

The senator also sought clarification on the government’s efforts to reduce the amount Filipino patients pay directly for health services.

He noted that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) had reduced the out-of-pocket share of health spending to 41.2 percent by the end of 2025 from 55 percent in 2016. PhilHealth has set a further reduction target of 37 percent by 2028.

Lacson said the figures needed to be examined alongside government data on overall health spending.

He also questioned whether funds earmarked for UHC under special laws, including the sin tax law, were actually being released to the DOH for their intended purpose.

PhilHealth President and CEO Beverly Lorraine Ho said the agency should be able to claim P127.55 billion in funds covering the period from 2019 through the second quarter of 2026.

Ho also said appropriations of P21 billion each were made for 2023 and 2024.

Lacson questioned the gap between funds earmarked under special laws and amounts actually released to the DOH through the General Appropriations Act.

“Ano ang gap from all these special laws na naipasa na naka-earmark dapat sa DOH? You understand sa buong GAA ito pinapasok. You are dependent sa DBM kung magkano mabibigay lang para sa UHC (What is the gap from these special laws earmarked for the DOH? They are included in the GAA. You are dependent on the Department of Budget and Management on how much will be released for the UHC),” Lacson asked.

He said the Senate could use its oversight powers to address instances where funds required by law are not released as intended.

“This is where we can help you. Ito ang oversight namin. Kung di nagko-comply ang DBM kasi covered ng batas, earmarked sa DOH and UHC tapos di binibigay sa inyo, this is where our oversight kicks in (This is where we can help you. We have oversight powers. If the DBM does not comply with special laws earmarking funds for UHC, this is where our oversight kicks in),” he added.