THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will receive no government subsidy in the 2025 national budget due to its substantial P600 billion reserve fund, Senate finance committee chair Grace Poe announced following the bicameral conference committee’s approval of the P6.352 trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
“Sa ngayon, ang PhilHealth ay hindi nabigyan ng budget. Sapagkat kailangan nilang gamitin muna yung kanilang reserve funds,” Poe told reporters in an interview.
(Right now, PhilHealth was not given any budget for next year because they need to use first their reserve funds.)
Poe explained that these reserves, currently deposited in PhilHealth accounts, will be utilized instead of allocating new funds.
She noted that the government’s return on these reserves is less than the inflation rate, resulting in a net loss for the government. The funds originally earmarked for PhilHealth have been reallocated to underfunded sectors in the 2025 budget.
