DOH: Specialty hospitals to receive P1B each for zero balance billing program

Specialty hospitals have been allocated P1 billion each under the 2026 national budget to support the zero balance billing program of the Marcos administration, the Department of Health (DOH) said Saturday.

The following hospitals are the recipients of the funds: 

• Lung Center of the Philippines
• National Kidney and Transplant Institute
• Philippine Children’s Medical Center
• Philippine Heart Center

These specialty hospitals conduct complicated and specialized procedures.

“Ito po ay government-owned. Private siya pero government-owned, so hindi siya humingi ng subsidy. Ang ginagawa sa hospital yan, kikita siya from the private [functions] at yan ang gagamitin sa basic accommodation para makapag-zero balance… Pag hindi sila kumita, mas konti [ang macocover],” DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa said in a radio broadcast.

(These are government-owned. It’s private, but it’s government-owned, so it doesn’t ask for subsidies. What these hospitals do is generate income from their private [functions], and that would be used for the basic accommodation to conduct the zero balance… If they don’t have income, they will [cover] less.)

“Pag nadagdagan ng P1 billion each [GOCC] ay mas malaking luwag yan sa kanila kasi hindi na nila kailangan taasan ang fee nila sa private part, kasi sila nagge-generate ng sarili nilang pondo para makaprovide ng free services,” Herbosa added.

(If each [GOCC] gets P1 billion each, then it would be better for them because they no longer have to increase the fees, since they are the ones generating their own funding to provide free services.)

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allocated P448.125 billion to the health sector under the 2026 national budget, the largest-ever health budget allocation in Philippine history.

READ: List of hospitals offering zero balance billing

The amount included an additional P1 billion allocation for the zero balance billing program in local government hospitals. —VBL, GMA Integrated News