Many Filipino netizens, especially those employed in the private sector, are upset with PhilHealth’s unprecedented 5% premium increase.
The primary source of people’s discontent stems from basic mathematical calculations, as the higher the rate, the larger their monthly contributions.
Despite PhilHealth officials’ attempts to justify this increase, it remains a cause for concern among individuals, particularly those in the private sector.
Corruption-riddled PhilHealth stated in a release, “The new schedule will help ensure the sustainability of the National Health Insurance Fund, guaranteeing that all Filipinos can avail themselves of outpatient benefit packages currently being finalized, as well as immediate eligibility for benefits during confinement.”
However, many Filipinos working in the private sector remain unconvinced, claiming they rarely receive any benefits from PhilHealth despite paying significant amounts each month.
Private sector employees often have private Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), usually co-funded by them and their employers. This means, in addition to paying monthly PhilHealth premiums, they also contribute to their private health insurance. Some fortunate individuals have their HMOs entirely covered by their employers.
For instance, a private employee earning P50,000 a month now faces a monthly PhilHealth premium of P2,500, totaling P30,000 annually. The problem arises when some private employees receive minimal benefits from their PhilHealth contributions when they fall ill, as they can rely on their HMOs.
In some cases, those who do receive benefits get only a fraction of their total contributions.
“Why do we hate the additional PhilHealth premiums? 1) No free healthcare for everyone despite high premium rates. 2) PhilHealth’s officials have very high salaries. 3) Healthcare can be funded by a tax on PH billionaires. 4) The system of reimbursements inflates admin costs, which could be avoided if funds were used to build a genuinely comprehensive public healthcare system where profit-taking is eliminated rather than almost encouraged by the government,” posted X user David Michael San Juan.
“Ang daming mali at bwisit sa Pilipinas. Parang 1,000 years ang kailangan para maitama,” he added.
Indeed, PhilHealth’s mandatory contribution has been designed for people from the private sector to subsidize the rest of its members, or the most disadvantaged members of the community.
“Tangina, sobrang nakakagalit na ang PhilHealth, increased nanaman by 1% this year. 5% na in total, pero BULOK parin ang health system, facilities, and accessibility, mababa parin sahod ng mga medical workers until today, saan napupunta ang binabayaran namin?” Ranted another netizen named Rae (@RaeGunn).
In 2021, PhilHealth faced corruption allegations, with billions of funds from the state-run insurer allegedly embezzled by its former officials. However, PhilHealth contested these accusations, asserting that ₱14.7 billion from the disputed funds had already been liquidated, and 711 hospitals were reimbursed for insurance claims.
Apart from blatant corruption and other irregularities, PhilHealth was also plagued with fraudulent claims from doctors and healthcare providers trying to game the system.
In the 2022, the Northern Mindanao branch of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) took initiative to probe potential fraudulent health insurance claims, as reported by Rappler.
These deceptive practices were estimated to incur an annual cost of around P200 million for the state-run insurer in the region alone.
On a broader scale, PhilHealth disclosed that a minimum of 9,525 fraudulent claims had been detected nationwide. These deceptive claims encompassed misrepresentations of medical cases and submissions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These represent just a few among the myriad reasons why the beginning of 2024 does not bode well for many Filipinos in the private sector, given the increase in PhilHealth premiums.
“Philhealth contribution is now 5% from the 4%. Mag contribute ka ng halos 1k a month pero ang bibigay lang saiyo kapag nagkasakit ka ay less than 10k lang kahit napakalaki ng bill mo. Philhealth is the least useful/underutilized in terms of our mandatory fees,” user Dave (@kingdc012) posted.
“True ang chaka ng Philhealth. Dapat kasi hindi na mandatory manghulog diyan. Dapat din na may option na rin tayo kung saan natin gustong maginvest for insurance,” another user, Chaerilus Philipinus, agreed.
“Dapat nga tinanggal na yan at mag HMO nlng. Premium member kna sa ganyang contribution per month,” another netizen commented.
Some netizens also want the contribution to be optional for workers in the private sector instead of mandatory.
“Petition to make Philhealth as optional instead of mandatory,” user Min Yoongles (@juseyoongis) commented.
“Our problem, to those who are tasked with paying a lot more than the average, is that we are paying more than those who have a minimum income, but the benefit we derive from Philhealth is just a uniform rate. This is a socialized type where the haves pay more than the have nots. Why should we suffer the burden of giving more when it’s the duty of the government to give more as we are already burdened with a lot of taxes,” Facebook user June Bailon commented.
“Tapos wala naman magawa ang mga manggagawang Pilipino kasi mandatory ang contribution,” another Facebook user Rob dela Cruz commented.
“Universal healthcare is not free. Someone has to pay, and the law states that it will be through Philhealth premium increase. I wonder why no one complained when the universal healthcare law was passed,” Facebook user Erving James Del Rosario said.
“Ako 1.2 m gastos ko 24k ang binigay! PI na philhealth ni dutae at duque!” Another netizen commented referencing the meager benefits he got from PhilHealth.
The Daily Netizen 