At least 78 percent or P46.61 billion of the P60 billion in “excess funds” remitted by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the National Treasury went to key health and social services, the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement on Wednesday.
The balance, or P13 billion, was used to fund the government’s counterpart financing for foreign-assisted infrastructure and “social determinants for health” projects, the DOF said.
The DOF quoted Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra as saying before the Supreme Court that the bulk of PhilHealth’s excess funds remitted to the National Treasury was used to finance critical health and social service programs.
“Under the purposes listed under the unprogrammed appropriations (of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2024) the biggest chunk goes to social projects, including health projects,” Guevarra said during the second round of oral arguments in the court on February 25. The case with the SC involved the consolidated petitions challenging the constitutionality of PhilHealth’s fund transfer to the Treasury.
“And, as of December of 2024, the total amount of P46 billion, more or less, had been devoted [to] the unprogrammed appropriations for social—more particularly, health—projects,” Guevarra said.
PhilHealth’s fund transfer arose from the national government’s implementation of Special Provision 1(d) of the 2024 GAA, which authorized the utilization of government-owned and -controlled corporations’ fund balances to finance key programs in health, social services and infrastructure under the Unprogrammed Appropriations.
According to DOF data, a large chunk worth P27.45 billion was used to settle the “Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care and Non-Healthcare Workers” who served and risked their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, a further P10 billion was utilized for medical assistance to «Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients.»
Around P4.1 billion financed the procurement of various medical equipment for the Department of Health (DOH) hospitals, local government unit hospitals and primary care facilities.
About P3.37 billion funded the construction of three DOH health facilities, while P1.69 billion went to the Health Facilities Enhancement Program.
Meanwhile, some of the projects under the unprogrammed appropriations for government counterpart financing are the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges; the Metro Manila Subway Project; the Philippine Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project; the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project; the Cebu-Mactan Bridge and Coastal Road Construction Project; the North-South Commuter Railway System; the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling Project; the Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project; and the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project, among others.
As of 2024, the DOF said PhilHealth had almost half a trillion pesos, or P498 billion, of cash in its war chest, more than enough to continue increasing its inpatient, outpatient and special benefit packages.
