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Rhodina Villanueva - The Philippine Star
July 19, 2025 | 12:00am
Emphasizing the urgency of improving access to medical services for members, PhilHealth president Edwin Mercado said, “I am really appealing for all your help.
Philstar.com / Irra Lising
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is appealing to the private sector to help address gaps in the country’s health care system.
Emphasizing the urgency of improving access to medical services for members, PhilHealth president Edwin Mercado said, “I am really appealing for all your help. It’s really very difficult, but in the first months that I’ve been in office, our members have already started to feel some improvements.”
He noted that PhilHealth needs support in enhancing patient services, particularly through improved facilities and the adoption of modern technology.
“Supply is lagging behind and that’s usually what I’m asking help for in the private sector,” Mercado said, referring to the growing demand for health care services outpacing the availability of hospitals and medicines.
Mercado underscored the importance of strengthening primary care to keep members healthy and reduce the need for inpatient services.
“The intent is to make sure the patients are healthy such that the utilization of inpatient benefit care will go down, and the savings will now be diverted to primary care, so that is better use of our money than paying for when you get sick,” he explained.
With the executive planning to restore PhilHealth’s subsidy next year with a proposed allocation of P53.2 billion, the agency expressed optimism that the funding will be approved.
“We warmly welcome and appreciate the proposed National Expenditure Program earmarked government subsidy as this will provide more sustainability to our current programs and future benefit expansion,” said Israel Francis Pargas, PhilHealth’s senior vice president for the health finance policy sector.
“We sincerely hope that this will translate into inclusion in the General Appropriations Act of 2026,” he added.
The 19th Congress gave PhilHealth zero subsidy in the 2025 national budget.
