House unlikely to introduce new taxes for health sector

A KEY legislator said the delivery of health services needs to be improved before Congress introduces new taxes to fund the sector.

“As for health, Congress already passed successive increases in sin taxes precisely to fulfill both consumption objectives and funding objectives. I would like to see improvements in service delivery first before I am convinced that we should impose new taxes,” Albay Representative and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda told reporters via Viber Wednesday.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) said it will be running a budget deficit of close to P100 billion over the next four years based on projected payouts that include patients treated for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

During a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday, PhilHealth President Ricardo C. Morales said that the agency is now experiencing a shortfall as it has only collected 10% of what it raises over the same period in 2019. Citing these concerns, Mr. Morales recommended a “general delay” in the implementation of Universal Health Care (UHC) as well as the postponement of the expansion of primary care benefits.

Mr. Salceda said that Philhealth should address its service delivery issue before new revenue is raised.

“Regarding Philhealth’s financial capability, for example, I have questions before I can say we should raise new revenue. First, is the reserve fund being invested in the most optimal way possible? Second, are there stronger mechanisms to prevent fraud? Third, are claims being paid to begin with?” Mr. Salceda said, adding that the agency should propose “operationalized alternatives” before delaying the implementation of UHC.

“As for DoH (Department of Health), are the most basic services, such as immunization, being delivered satisfactorily? Are new facilities requested being used? Universal Health Care systems have to be very efficient with spending. Otherwise, they tend to balloon into fiscally unsustainable super programs that countries struggle to support as their demography shifts,” he added.

Enacted in February 2019, the UHC law seeks to expand access to health services by automatically enrolling all Filipinos in PhilHealth’s National Health Insurance Program to provide a “comprehensive set of health services without financial hardship.” — Genshen L. Espedido