JV seeks P74.4-B supplemental budget for PhilHealth to sustain zero-balance billing

Senator JV Ejercito called Wednesday for the passage of a measure seeking to provide an additional P74.4 billion subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in order to sustain the zero-balance billing promise of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law. 

This, as President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), announced that the government will cover all expenses incurred by Filipinos at Department of Health (DOH) hospitals.

Ejercito, author and principal sponsor of the UHC Act, said that the supplemental budget for Philhealth topped with additional allocation for hospitals are key to the fulfillment of such. 

“Sana ngayon ay totohanin na ang pagbibigay ng importansya sa UHC. Nandiyan na ang batas. Ang kulang na lang ay agresibong implementasyon at pondo,” the senator said in a statement.

(I hope now that giving importance to UHC will soon be realized. The law is already there. What only needs to be done is aggressive implementation and funding.) 

“Panawagan ko sa aking mga kasamahan sa Kongreso at kay Pangulong Marcos, agad natin ipasa ang supplemental budget para sa PhilHealth,” Ejercito added. “Pondohan natin ngayon para masigurong wala nang babayaran kahit isang sentimo ang mga pasyente sa mga DOH hospital para sa basic accommodation.”

(I call on my colleagues in Congress and President Marcos to immediately pass the supplemental budget for PhilHealth. Let's fund it now to ensure that patients in DOH hospitals will not have to pay a single cent for basic accommodation.) 

Included in Ejercito’s priority bills for the 20th Congress is the measure proposing a P74.4 billion Supplemental Appropriations for PhilHealth. 

Under the bill, PhilHealth premiums will be funded for indigent families, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and financially incapable patients, amounting to P53.1 billion.

Meanwhile, a P21.2 billion will be allocated for the enhanced benefit packages including expanded dialysis, mental health care, nutrition support, and outpatient services, and an additional P127.6 million will be provided for the coverage for PAMANA beneficiaries in conflict-affected areas. 

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa earlier said that the zero-balance billing is currently being implemented in 87 DOH hospitals across the country, excluding the four government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC), namely the Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Lung Center, National Kidney Transplant Institute, and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center. 

Herbosa said that to avail of the zero-balance billing, a patient must be admitted to the basic accommodation or the ward of a DOH hospital.

“Basta 'wag lang kayo nasa private, kasi pag nagpunta ka sa private may bayad yung doctor, may bayad yung room. Basta nasa basic accommodation ka ng DOH, bayad na ang bill mo,” he said in a post-SONA discussion on Tuesday.

(As long as you are not in a private hospital where you have to pay the doctor and the room. As long as you are at the basic accommodation of DOH, the bill has already been paid.)

The DOH said it started zero-balance billing in DOH hospitals on May 14, or before it was even announced by the President during his fourth SONA on Monday, July 28. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News