Marcos backs Mercado's plan to digitalize PhilHealth

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed support for newly appointed Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) president Edwin Mercado's plan to digitalize PhilHealth processes during a Palace briefing.

Marcos emphasized the need for faster and more efficient claim processing and application procedures, noting that manual processing is slow and inefficient.

Mercado, an experienced healthcare professional with 35 years of hospital management experience, vowed to address systemic challenges such as benefits management, claims processing, and financial reporting.

The new PhilHealth chief plans to focus on digitalizing operations to streamline services, reduce fraud, and increase transparency, aiming to provide a more detailed report within a week.

Marcos acknowledged that Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., the previous head of PhilHealth who came from the private sector, had left his position due to difficulties adjusting to government politics.