Health workers ask SC to rule on PhilHealth fund transfer case

MANILA, Philippines – Health workers are calling on the Supreme Court (SC) to decide on the legality of the P89.9-billion fund transfer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHeath), a year after a temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued.

Groups filed petitions last year after the Department of Finance mandated government-owned and -controlled corporations to remit their excess funds to the Bureau of Treasury.

Of the P89.9-billion excess fund, PhilHealth remitted P60 billion in three tranches, the last one in October last year. The transfer of the remaining fund was halted after the SC issued a TRO in response to the petitions.

“Our prayer is that the Supreme Court will make a final decision, a ruling that the law that was passed to transfer money to the treasury from PhilHealth is illegal and should not be repeated,” Philippine Medical Association president Dr. Hector Santos Jr. said in a briefing on Tuesday, November 25.

“Ang mga aming binibigyan ng serbisyong medikal, nakikita natin na nangangailan talaga sila ng tulong mula sa (We observe that our patients really need help from) PhilHealth,” he said.

Santos said excess funds should be tapped to increase benefits or to lower contributions.

University of the Philippines Manila-College of Medicine Professor Emeritus Dr. Antonio Dans noted that PhilHealth could have used its excess funds to assist indigent Filipinos, citing a study they recently conducted.

“‘Yung mga patients in the poorest quintile, halos one of four na na-admit sa ospital, 25 percent, nangungutang. So, napakalaki nung impact. Samantalang sa richest quintile, ‘yung pinakamayaman, walang nangungutang diyan,” Dans said.

(One in four patients or 25 percent in the poorest quintile asks for a loan for hospital admission. The impact is big. In the richest quintile, no one borrows money.)

If health is treated as a right, Dans said patients should not beg for guarantee letters from politicians.

“Karapatan natin lahat ‘yan kahit hindi ikaw nagbabayad ng premium. Karapatan mo ‘yan kasi you contribute to society. In fact, ang laki ng contribution mo pero ang kaunti ng kita mo, hindi mo mabayaran. That’s in recognition of your role as a Filipino. Karapatan mo ang healthcare, ng bawat Pilipino, regardless of ability to pay,” he said.

(Healthcare is everyone’s right even if you are not paying premiums. It is your right because you contribute to society. In fact, your contribution to society is big but your meager income cannot pay for premiums. Every Filipino has a right to healthcare, regardless of ability to pay.)

Dans said they had expected the SC decision to be out last May after the oral arguments on the PhilHealth fund transfer case were completed in April.

Last September, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the return of the remitted P60 billion to the state insurer. Health workers are expecting the amount to be incorporated in PhilHealth’s 2026 budget. – Rappler.com