PhilHealth cuts 30th anniv budget to PHP 100k after Senate criticism

PhilHealth has reduced its 30th anniversary event budget from an initial P138 million to a few hundred thousand pesos following criticism during Wednesday's Senate Committee on Health and Demography hearing.

Senator Bong Go criticized the original budget, stating that spending over PHP 100 million is excessive and unfair to Filipinos, while Senator Loren Legarda requested PhilHealth to explain how the budget inflated.

PhilHealth President Emmanuel Ledesma assured senators that operations will continue unaffected by the zero subsidy approved in the 2025 budget, emphasizing their financial stability with reserves of PHP 281 billion and surplus funds of PHP 150 billion as of October 2024.

Ledesma also committed to increasing benefit packages for top mortality cases such as heart disease, diabetes, respiratory issues, and hypertension, including a kidney transplantation coverage increase from P600,000 to over P2 million.

Despite these assurances, Senator Go expressed disagreement with the zero subsidy decision, arguing it is unacceptable and anti-poor.

During Wednesday's Senate Committee on Finance hearing, Ledesma clarified that PhilHealth has decided to spend only a few hundred thousand pesos for its 30th anniversary next year, down from the proposed P137.7 million.