While the fourth series of "The Agenda" media forum at Club Filipino on Friday (Feb. 16) hosted by Atty. Siegfred Mison, a video presentation showed about the RA 7875, or the “National Healthcare Act of 1995”, which provides health insurance to both public and private employees.
As of June 2023, there are 66.1 million PhilHealth members, 29.8 million are considered as dependents, including the illegitimate children.
As of January 2024, PhilHealth has a total of Php2.73 trillion in assets, Php762.8 billion income and Php183.3 billion cash inflow.
Agri Party-List Rep. Wilbert Lee and a member of about 20 Committees in the 19th Congress of the House of Representatives, said that in September 2023, he learned from Filipinos when he visited people in the countryside that some Filipinos were not admitted to hospitals because they
PhilHealth has Php466 billion investible funds invested in different 68 billion as of July 2023, Php100-billion subsidy coming from the national government every year coming from indigent Filipinos.
Only Php27 billion was the debt of PhilHealth from hospitals, which were settled by PhilHealth, hence, its members can avail of the benefits under PhilHealth coverage.
8,000 different case rates which can be deducted by PhilHealth. In October 2023, Rep. Lee filed a bill seeking to increase the benefits that can be extended to its members.
Since 13 years ago, the case rates of PhilHealth has not been increased or adjusted such that the Php300.00 monthly contribution has not been increased.
Php150,000.00 to Php600,000.00 PhilHealth coverage on cancer cases has not been increased since 13 years ago.
PhilHealth is mandated to reserve Php466 billion fund, under its Charter, it’s very clear that the excess money can only be used in the increase of health benefits for its members.
He mentioned that the investments of PhilHealth of Php466 billion earned an interest of Php20.7 billon alone.
Rep. Lee noted that many Filipinos were not able to avail of the maximum benefits from PhilHealth due to lack of ample funding, which in turn, made them to turn to other new doctors who do not provide for PhilHealth coverage for their professional fees.
He mentioned that rich businessmen should have bigger contributions in the Healthcare provisions for the common workers.
Eventually, Rep. Lee, PhilHealth should be an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) where there should be a “zero balance’ in the hospitalization of its members. He cited for an instance the Healthcare benefits in Montreal, Canada; London, United Kingdom and Singapore.
“It is the obligation of the government to protect the health condition of its citizens,” Rep. Lee.
He stressed that many Filipinos in the countryside have not been going to the public hospitals due to lack of necessary health facilities in order to provide them with proper healthcare.
Atty. Luke Espiritu, Labor Lawyer, stressed that the PhilHealth Law is insufficient such that there should be an appropriate law providing for sufficient Healthcare benefits.
Atty. Espiritu cited the minimum wage law is not enough for common workers to avail of proper healthcare and that the workers should have a “just share” of the profit of the business, where the healthcare of the majority of the Filipinos can be extricated.
According to the National Wages and Productivity Commission, there should be proportionate just living contributions of both the employer and the employees in so far as their healthcare is concerned.
Atty. Espiritu noted that the share was even “gambled” to the Maharlika Investment Fund.
Leodegario ‘’Ka Leody’’ de Guzman, Labor leader, said that the Healthcare should be a “public service”, noting that it’s difficult to have a proper healthcare system which is being controlled by big businesses.
De Guzman added that all the public services are apparently made as “businesses”, stressing that the government should think “out of the box” in the healthcare system in the sense that the government should make Filipinos healthy through providing a “framework” other than “business”, which should not be a “ capitalist framework”.
The government, he said, should not spend trillions in pesos in PhilHealth, which for him, only went to corruption such that the “bidding process” in its programs and projects were not done in compliance with the Procurement Law.
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