Pia Cayetano slams PhilHealth on 18% target coverage by 2025
Sen. Pia Cayetano
CEBU CITY, Philippines — “Akala ko joke.” (I thought it was a joke).
This was the reaction of Senator Pia Cayetano after learning that PhilHealth Senior Vice President Renato Limsiaco, Jr. stated that the agency aims to cover only 18% of hospitalization costs by 2025 during the recent oral arguments of the Supreme Court on the transfer of PhilHealth’s excess funds to the national treasury.
In an interview with Cebu media on Friday, Cayetano criticized the state insurance provider’s percentage coverage for its members’ hospital bills.
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“Kung maririnig ko sa Supreme Court, sagot mismo sa Supreme Court justice na ang goal is 18 percent lang ang sasaluhin ng PhilHealth, akala ko joke kasi ang gusto kong marinig nasa 50 percent tayo, papunta tayo sa 75 percent [hanggang] 99 percent,” Cayetano said.
She called it a “joke” as it is contrary to the aim of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, which also aims to provide adequate and affordable health services to all Filipinos through PhilHealth.
Moreover, Cayetano said that the experience shared by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez at the Supreme Court was proof of how insufficient the coverage of PhilHealth is to its members.
According to Lopez, PhilHealth only covered P50,000 of his hospital bill, which reached P7 million in 2023.
Cayetano said she has been the vice-chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Finance for five years, where she was also in charge of PhilHealth’s budget.
“For the past two years hindi nga sila humingi ng pondo. Sabi nila sapat ang pondo. Sapat ang pondo, tapos 18 percent palang ang kaya niyong i-cover and then by 2028, just three years from now, ang goal nila is 28 percent. Saan kukuha ang tao ng balanse no’n?” she said.
Cayetano, who also chairs the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee, warns the state insurance provider that she might refer the issue to the Blue Ribbon Committee to investigate the pressing matter.
Cayetano was here in Cebu to celebrate the Barangay Health Workers day on Friday in Cebu City.
Photo caption: Sen. Pia Cayetano slammed PhilHealth after learning the percentage it aims to cover for its members in 2025. | photo by Niña Mae Oliverio
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