SENATOR Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go expressed concern over the potential setback to the healthcare system following Congress’ decision to allocate zero budget for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in 2025.
Go, the chairman of the Senate committee on health, said the decision diverged from the Universal Health Care Law, which aims to significantly reduce healthcare costs for Filipinos in the coming years.
The senator feared that the healthcare system would regress even further with the zero budget allocation for PhilHealth.
Go questioned why PhilHealth’s budget is being cut when these improved benefits are about to be implemented,
During the hearings conducted by Go’s committee, it was revealed that PhilHealth still has a P500-billion reserve fund. Go repeatedly urged the agency to utilize these funds for poor patients instead of letting them sit idle.
However, Go emphasized that despite PhilHealth’s substantial reserve fund, it still needs a budget for 2025 to ensure that patients, especially the millions of Filipinos who rely on medical assistance facilities like the Malasakit Centers (a project initiated by Senator Go), are not left behind.
Screenshot photo of Rhoda Grace B Saron
