Level 3 LGU hospitals to be prioritized for P1B zero balance billing fund – DOH

The Department of Health will be prioritizing Level 3 local government unit (LGU) hospitals for the P1 billion allocation for zero-balance billing (ZBB) under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

In a press conference at the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRRMMC) on Monday, DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said they have yet to set guidelines and a fixed number of hospitals that they will sponsor for the ZBB program.

Herbosa said he will select the 17 Level 3 LGU hospitals in the country.

“Pag LGU [hospital] ka at Level 3, ibig sabihin mataas ang level ng services mo pag Level 3 ka kasi may operations, may ICU, may residency clinics. Talagang very similar to the services given DOH hospitals. There are 17 LGU hospitals [at Level 3],” he said.

(If you are an LGU hospital and Level 3, it means your services are at a high level at Level 3 because you have operations, ICU, and residency clinics. Your services are very similar to those given at DOH hospitals. There are 17 LGU hospitals at Level 3.)

Herbosa said his second priority would be Level 2 hospitals that are aiming for Level 3, followed by LGU hospitals that signed agreements to take spillover patients from DOH hospitals.

Hospitals with Level 3 service capability have the capacity for teaching, training, research, physical medicine and rehabilitation science, ambulatory surgery, dialysis, tertiary laboratory, blood bank, and 3rd level X-rays.

Level 2 hospitals have departmentalized clinical services, respiratory units, ICU, neonatal ICU, high-risk pregnancy units, clinical laboratory, and 2nd level X-rays.

“Yung LGU hospitals, e-enganyuhin natin mag zero-balance through funds from this P1 billion… This is my way of trying to push the LGU hospitals to make their hospitals better,” he added.

(We will encourage LGU hospitals to take on zero-balance cases through funds from this P1 billion… This is my way of trying to push the LGU hospitals to make their hospitals better.)

On Monday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the 2026 national budget with a P448.125 billion allocation for health programs.

This amount is the largest health sector budget to have been appropriated in the country’s history.

Under the P448 billion budget, the P1 billion allocation for the ZBB policy aims to cover in-patient services and basic accommodation for LGU hospitals, along with disease surveillance, rapid response mechanisms, and sustainable health financing.

Herbosa said he believed that the P1 billion ZBB allocation would not be enough to sponsor LGU hospitals, but said they can utilize other program funds like the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) to help supplement the ZBB budget.

“We will create the correct guidelines para di naman maubos agad, matipid natin the whole year at mag-benefit ang mas maraming Filipino sa zero balance sa ating LGU hospitals,” he said.

(We will create the correct guidelines so that we won’t run out right away and we can use it for the whole year and more Filipinos would benefit from the zero balance from our LGU hospitals.) — JMA, GMA Integrated News