'Any sort of diminution of PhilHealth benefits will affect the poor, low-income, and even middle class households the worst,” says Sonny Africa, executive director of Ibon Foundation
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Taking away P89.9 billion from PhilHealth will weaken the financial stability of the state health insurer, resulting in uncertainty, which in turn, can translate to more conservatism and more out-of-pocket health spending for Filipinos, according to physician Beverly Ho, a former undersecretary of the Department of Health .
Ho, for one, explained that premium payments made by members allowed PhilHealth to do “aggressive benefit expansion.” Still, they’re not enough. On average, PhilHealth shoulders only 40% of total hospital bills of covered inpatient diseases, she said. “Any sort of diminution of PhilHealth benefits will affect the poor, low-income, and even middle-class households the worst,” he added.
How can this happen when according to economist Orville Jose Solon, another amicus curiae, PhilHealth was receiving more in terms of member contributions versus how much it is actually spending? “That this case has been presented here and being argued, this is an opportunity to trigger reforms within PhilHealth. Whatever your decision, reforms have been triggered,” said Solon.The law mandated a yearly hike of premiums for paying contributors. Starting 2020 — when premiums were at 3% — the annual hike was at 0.5%. The goal was to have premium rates reach 5%.
Unprogrammed appropriation ideally is a standby authority to be able to fund projects in case there’s an excess — excess in this case is PhilHealth’s unused funds.
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