Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday proposed reallocating part of the P49-billion budget for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) to expand the government’s zero-balance billing program.
Gatchalian said the realignment would strengthen the country’s Universal Health Care (UHC) system and reduce the need for Filipinos to seek financial aid from politicians for hospital expenses.
“It’s painful to see that many of our fellow Filipinos still have to line up at politicians’ offices to ask for help,” said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance.
“We are placing the decision between life and death in the hands of politicians, and that’s not right. The system itself should be the one helping our people,” he stressed.
The lawmaker asserted that transferring funds to the zero-balance billing program would ensure that all Filipinos have access to quality healthcare without incurring crippling medical costs.
The UHC Law, according to him, aims to provide equitable health services for all citizens, but gaps in implementation continue to burden poor and financially struggling patients.
Gatchalian said the existing MAIFIP program, while helpful, often creates dependency on political offices and fails to guarantee consistent access to medical care.
“We need to reform Universal Healthcare to ensure that all Filipinos have access to quality health services without being buried in expenses,” he said.
Under the zero-balance billing policy, patients in government health facilities should no longer pay out-of-pocket expenses for services covered by PhilHealth.
However, Gatchalian cautioned that fully implementing the program would likely increase hospital occupancy rates across the country.
He cited the need to expand hospital capacities, noting that many public health centers already exceed their designated bed limits.
The senator urged the Department of Health and PhilHealth to review current funding allocations and prioritize measures that directly benefit patients.
