SC justice flags budget utilization

It may be time to overhaul the board of PhilHealth amid concerns over the utilization of its budget, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr. said.

Kho floated the idea during Tuesday’s oral arguments on petitions seeking to block the transfer of PhilHealth’s excess funds to the national treasury.

“Probably, it’s time to overhaul PhilHealth and change the board for not complying with what the law requires,” he said.

On Wednesday, newly-installed PhilHealth president and CEO Edwin Mercado, who assumed office last month, said the present leadership is “dedicated” to improving the services of PhilHealth.

“Our performance is being assessed regularly,” Mercado said in a television interview.

Kho earlier said the state health insurer must urge the President to reverse the transfer of P60 billion in PhilHealth “excess funds” to the national treasury.

The magistrate said the P60 billion could be used to expand the state insurer’s benefits packages to “answer to the public’s needs.”

Petitions were filed by 1Sambayan Coalition, a group led by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Koko Pimentel III and another group led by Bayan Muna party-list chair Neri Colmenares to stop the transfer of P89.9 billion in excess funds from PhilHealth to the national treasury.

However, P60 billion in unutilized funds were already transferred, with only P29.9 billion remaining with PhilHealth.

The Supreme Court in October issued a restraining order to stop the transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion.

During Tuesday’s oral arguments, Kho asked the Department of Health, which chairs the PhilHealth board, as to how the budget of the state health insurer is prepared.

Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said the department “counts the number of members based on a database on indirect members and then it generates a list.”

“That is the number submitted multiplied by a factor which is the premium rate and then is submitted to the Department of Budget Management,” Domingo said.

Based on the law, PhilHealth funds may be sourced from members’ premium contributions, sin tax collections, 50 percent of share from PAGCOR’s income, 40 percent of charity funds through PCSO, annual budget of the DOH and the national government subsidy to PhilHealth included in the budget.

Domingo explained that PhilHealth’s budget is “computed based on the need,” which Kho questioned as a departure from existing laws.

“That is not the people’s fault – for not availing all of these benefits. Apparently, from your own words, that is the fault of this administration, the last administration, or the previous administration. That is the fault of PhilHealth,” the High Court justice said.

“The problem is PhilHealth limits the funding. If you increase the budget by 200 percent, I don’t think the Filipinos would not avail of that. You define your own limits…Let’s not make it difficult for the public because the money is there,” Kho added.

Domingo said the Marcos administration agrees with Kho’s observation, citing the appointment of Mercado.

He said the new leadership of PhilHealth head is “correcting” the mistakes of the past administrations.

Kho lauded the leadership change, but said PhilHealth should not “close their eyes for the past years,” adding that.