PhilHealth: Return of P60-B funds ensures sustainable health services

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision ordering the return its P60-billion excess funds, which were earlier set to be transferred to the National Treasury.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday, PhilHealth spokesperson and Senior Vice President for Health Finance Policy sector Israel Pargas said the high tribunal's ruling "make[s] sure that our [universal healthcare] program would be sustainable and we would be able to expand and improve our benefits and services."

In a 136-page decision, the SC en Banc declared void the Special Provision 1(d) Chapter XLIII of the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), Finance Circular 003-2024, and the transfer of the P60 billion for having been issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

The Special Provision 1(d) authorized the return of the excess funds of government-owned and -controlled corporations to the National Treasury. The Department of Finance (DOF) circular, meanwhile, directed the transfer of P89.9 billion from PhilHealth to the National Treasury.

Of the P89.9 billion, only P60 billion was remitted to the Treasury following the high court's issuance of a temporary restraining order for the transfer of the last tranche or remaining P29.9 billion excess funds of PhilHealth. This was in view of petitions challenging the transfer's constitutionality.

In its latest ruling, the SC permanently prohibited the respondents from implementing the transfer of PhilHealth's P29.9 billion to the Treasury.

The high tribunal ordered Congress, Department of Finance, and the Executive Secretary to include the P60 billion as a specific item in the 2026 GAA to be returned to PhilHealth.

"We welcome, of course, the decision of the court," Pargas said.

The PhilHealth official said the SC order is also a challenge for the state health insurer as "we need to match the funds given to us with improved services."

Pargas reiterated that despite the previous order transferring the P60-billion excess funds to the Treasury, PhilHealth continued to provide services.

"In our payment of benefit payment expense… we've reached P250 billion as of October [2025], 83% more compared to 2024," he said.

"So even though P60 billion was taken, we continued to expand and improve services," he added.

In a statement, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, who was the Finance secretary when the excess PhilHealth funds were ordered to be transferred back to the Treasury, said the Palace respects the Supreme Court’s decision.

"We reiterate that the Executive simply complied with the congressional mandate under the 2024 GAA, and that the Department of Finance's (DOF) role is solely in revenue generation and debt and deficit management. We believed then, and still believe, that the directive was a common-sense approach to optimize government coffers without resorting to additional borrowing or new taxes," Recto said.

"Before any remittance occurred, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), and the Commission on Audit (COA) gave DOF the green light to do so. The PhilHealth board also approved the transfer," the executive secretary said.

Recto added that PhilHealth's ability to deliver services was never impaired by the fund transfer and no member contributions were taken.

"In fact, the correction led to the agency's largest expansion of benefit packages in Universal Health Care history, alongside the rollout of Zero Balance Billing to protect Filipino families from rising medical costs," the Palace official said. — VDV, GMA Integrated News