By Noli Liwanag
MANILA, PHILIPPINES [TAC] – Philippine healthcare leaders on Tuesday urged Congress to address a severe funding shortfall for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in the proposed 2027 national budget, warning that “millions of Filipinos risk losing health insurance coverage early next year unless urgent corrections are made.”
In a joint position paper issued October 6, a broad coalition led by the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC)—comprising over 50 major medical, surgical, nursing, and allied health organizations—condemned the proposed General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for fiscal year 2027.
The group cautioned that the allocated P74 billion ($1.3 billion) state subsidy for PhilHealth is “grossly inadequate” and projected to run out by March 2027.
“After that, the burden of healthcare costs will increasingly fall on patients themselves, including direct contributors who already pay into the system but are not receiving benefits commensurate with their contributions,” the coalition stated in its position paper.
Patronage vs universal coverage
The healthcare leaders highlighted a widening gap in state medical funding under the Universal Health Care Act (Republic Act No. 11223). They noted that since 2022, about P311 billion ($5.2 billion) in earmarked revenues—derived from sin taxes, state lotteries (PCSO), and casino revenues (PAGCOR)—have been withheld or left unappropriated rather than channeled into public health benefits.
At the same time, the leaders criticized lawmakers for doubling the budget for the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program to almost P50 billion ($850 million) from P24 billion. The budget was expanded under the House Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee.
Medical leaders argued that MAIFIP acts as a mechanism for political patronage, making essential care dependent on political connections and lawmakers’ discretion rather than medical need.
“Healthcare should not depend on whom a patient knows, whom they can approach, or whom they can persuade to help them,” the group said, demanding the abolition of discretionary medical assistance funds and the transfer of those resources directly into PhilHealth’s rules-based system.
Calls for budget reforms
To avert a severe breakdown in health coverage, the medical coalition outlined four key demands for lawmakers and executive officials.
First, they called on Congress to close the funding gap by increasing PhilHealth’s allocation of just P74 billion next year with an additional P170 billion to meet the minimum required threshold of P244 billion. Second, they urged the government to fully remit and appropriate the cumulative P311 billion in withheld tax and gaming revenues originally earmarked for universal health care.
Additionally, the coalition demanded the abolition of discretionary medical assistance programs like MAIFIP, advocating instead for those resources to be transferred to PhilHealth to enable transparent, rules-based zero-balance billing for indigent patients. Finally, health leaders required complete public disclosure and transparency regarding all congressional and executive decisions on health fund allocations.
Signatories to the statement include prominent organizations such as the Philippine Medical Association, Philippine College of Physicians, Philippine College of Surgeons, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Ang Nars, and dozens of specialty societies across the medical spectrum.
“Every day, on the frontlines of our healthcare system, we witness the devastating human cost of these budget decisions,” the position paper read. “Filipinos [are] forced to beg, line up at politicians’ offices, and seek personal favors simply to obtain healthcare that should be their right.”