Herbosa wants PhilHealth contribution hike suspended

CNN Philippines

As if rising prices aren't enough many Filipinos are now paying more for their PhilHealth contributions.  But the Health Secretary is pushing to have the increase suspended, again.  Paige Javier has our lead story on The Final Word.    Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

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00:00 Even Health Secretary Ted Herbosa is not keen on the implementation of the PhilHealth contribution hike.

00:07 All the bills are rising. This is the right time to actually already fill it.

00:14 If you ask me, it's still suspended. When it was suspended, nothing was lost from the benefits. It was still given. It even increased.

00:22 Under the universal health care law, premium contribution will be raised to 5% this year until 2025 from the current 4%.

00:32 So if your basic monthly salary is P10,000, you will now pay P500 for premium.

00:38 For those with salaries above P10,000, contribution ranges from P500 to P5,000.

00:46 In 2022, President Bongbong Marcos suspended the scheduled 4.5% premium hike for last year.

00:54 Hence, Herbosa believes the increase should be at 4.5% based on the latest rate of 4%.

01:01 If ever the President will agree to the continuation, my recommendation is to start from where we stopped, not the current 5%.

01:10 That to me is the logical way to lift the suspension. We don't jump to a very high because people are pitiful.

01:17 In a statement, PhilHealth President and CEO Emanuel Ledesma says they respect the view of the Health Secretary, but they are bound by the law to proceed with implementation.

01:28 I think PhilHealth has enough money to actually continue to give benefits and it will not be hurt by delaying the increase in premium.

01:39 There are other things that are supporting healthcare. MAIP is one of them. I was given an additional P40 billion.

01:46 So you have to look at the big picture. It's not only PhilHealth.

01:50 PhilHealth earlier said the premium rate increase will improve benefits for members.

01:55 But Herbosa is confident services will continue even if the rate hike is suspended.

02:01 The suspension will also not affect the payment of PhilHealth to private hospitals of about P10 billion in unpaid claims.

02:09 Although we cannot realize the collection of P17 billion, PhilHealth is currently maintaining our financial position and financial standing.

02:25 We can continue to increase the benefits.

02:33 They have promised to continue to go back to their previous outing. We expect that they will pay it little by little.

02:45 Herbosa's recommendation will be taken up in the PhilHealth board meeting.

02:50 We can talk about it and we can arrive at an agreement.

02:56 The health secretary said he already wrote to the president. Malacanang confirmed Mr. Marcos is studying the request.

03:03 Paige Javier, CNN Philippines.

03:06 Philippines.

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