Ejercito wants MAIFIP slowly phased out 

Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito on Wednesday said that the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program should be eventually removed and its funds lodged directly to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) or to government hospitals. 

Ejercito, author and principal sponsor of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, expressed belief that phasing out MAIFIP would alleviate the patronage politics, especially among beneficiaries who are mostly indigent patients. 

“Ngayon dahan-dahan naman, nararamdaman na at gumaganda na ‘yung PhilHealth, gumaganda na ‘yung UHC. So kaya ko nasabi na itong MAIFIP nung una nakakatulong dahil inaayos pa ‘yung UHC. Pero ngayon, maganda na sigurong i-phase out ito paunti-unti dahil gumaganda na nga ang UHC at ‘yung PhilHealth ay nagiging epektibo na,” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. 

(Slowly, PhilHealth and UHC are getting better now. I said before that the MAIFIP was helpful at first because the UHC was still being fixed then. But now, it might be good to phase it out little by little because the UHC and PhilHealth are becoming more effective.) 

“Kumbaga kung magkasakit ka, andiyan ang UHC, pumunta ka na lang ng ospital, ang problemahin mo magpagaling. Hindi mo na problemahin dapat saan ka kukuha ng pambayad. Dapat ‘yung pondo ay nasa ospital na diretso o kaya nasa PhilHealth na,” he added. 

(If you get sick, the UHC is there, you just go to the hospital and focus on getting better. You should no longer have to worry about where to get the payment. The funds should directly be given to the hospital or to PhilHealth.) 

The proposed funding for MAIFIP has been raised to P51 billion for 2026, after lawmakers finalizing next year’s national budget approved an increase.

MAIFIP is a financial aid program of the Department of Health (DOH) targeted to provide assistance for the medical expenses of eligible applicants, including indigent and financially incapable patients.

EXPLAINER: What is DOH's MAIFIP program?

The MAIFIP program funds cover medicines, services, and other medical products as prescribed by a licensed physician or health professional. Guarantee letters are issued by government officials such as senators and congressmen to hospitals, committing to shoulder the full or partial medical costs of qualified patients.

The program, however, has drawn criticism for its heavy reliance on guarantee letters from politicians, a practice critics say perpetuates patronage politics.

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio "Ambo" David described MAIFIP as a “violation of human dignity” that uses aid for a patronage system that politicians can wield to generate "utang na loob."

Malacañang previously said that MAIFIP funds will not go through politicians, but would be released directly to local government hospitals, with the DOH implementing the program. — BM, GMA Integrated News