FINANCE Secretary Ralph Recto said yesterday the move to redirect Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) excess funds is “legal, moral, and economically sound”.
“I stand before you, Your Honors, to humbly assert that the move to revert these excess funds is not only legal. But it is also economically sound and a moral duty. We cannot, in good conscience, allow funds to languish in bank accounts as our nation’s needs multiply daily,” Recto said during the fifth oral argument at the Supreme Court on the consolidated petitions challenging the constitutionality of the transfer of PHP89.9 billion unused funds to the national treasury.
Recto reiterated the legality of the policy, which he said, has been affirmed by the Office of the Solicitor General, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, the Governance Commission for GOCCs, and the Commission on Audit (COA).
He said the transfer of excess funds was also approved by the PhilHealth Board.
Recto assured that not a single centavo from PhilHealth members’ contributions was touched.
He said that of PhilHealth’s P60 billion remittance, 78 percent was used to finance critical health projects.
“The 60 billion pesos that was returned didn’t vanish — it paid frontliners, built hospitals, and gave the poor access to medicine. Every centavo remitted was converted into service. That is fiscal justice,” he said.
The remaining P13 billion was used to fund government counterpart financing for foreign-assisted infrastructure and social determinants for health projects that will accelerate the delivery of healthcare services to remote areas and enhance the health and well-being of Filipinos.
Recto dispelled claims that PhilHealth is bankrupt, clarifying that the confusion stems from its Insurance Contract Liabilities (ICLs), which the COA flagged as inaccurate and unreliable.
The ICLs are not actual debts but merely provisions for future obligations based on flawed actuarial estimates.
The Finance chief said PhilHealth’s accumulated net income has grown more than four times since 2019, from P109.95 billion to P464.27 billion in 2023 while its average benefit claims expenses only amounted to an average of P140 billion.
Despite PhilHealth’s remittance of P60 billion, Recto said the agency is still left with P498 billion of cash in its war chest as of 2024.
The amount is more than enough to continue increasing its inpatient, outpatient, and special benefit packages over the next two years. (PNA)
