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PINANINDIGAN ni Senate President Francis Escudero ang desisyon ng bicameral conference committee sa zero subsidy na iginawad sa Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), kasabay ng babala sa iba pang ayaw gamitin ang pondo alinsunod sa mandato.
Paliwanag ni Escudero, obligado na ngayon gamitin ng PhilHealth ang nasa P600-bilyong reserve funds bunsod matapos alisan ng subsidiya sa ilalim ng P6.352 national budget na niratipikahan ng Senado at Kamara.
“The Department of Finance (DOF) reduced PhilHealth’s excess funds that they were not spending, which was worth P500 billion at that time. Reduced by P90 billion, the Supreme Court withheld the P39 billion, if I’m not mistaken. So PhilHealth’s fund only decreased by P440 billion,” ayon kay Escudero.
“But right now, even when we discussed the budget, PhilHealth’s fund is at P600 billion again. The budget proposal aims to increase that by P74 billion. More than P50 billion for the payment of premiums to the unemployed and P20 billion for additional benefits. But why should we give more if their funds are too much and they are not spending for the members?” giit niya.
Base aniya sa charter ng PhilHealth, pwedeng gamitin ng naturang ahensya ang sariling pondo para sa implementasyon ng Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.
“And good thing is that from one pocket the money just goes back to their other pocket,” dugtong ng senador.
Ibinasura din ng lider ng Senado ang pananaw na lalabagin ng Kongreso ang Saligang Batas kapag hindi nabigyan ng subsidiya ang PhilHealth na aabot sa P74-billion para sa 2025.
“No law can be passed by the previous Congress to tie the hands of the next Congress especially if it is not appropriate and no longer suitable for the time like the situation we have now,” aniya pa.
“Philhealth’s funding is too much but we would fund it again while they are not doing their job in terms of additional benefits and additional coverage.”
“Second, if that is what we’d base it on, then we have over 1 trillion and 600,000 laws that are not funded but passed. So that cannot be the basis. That’s why I said that what was passed by the previous congress cannot be changed by future congresses… the next congress has the power to change that depending on the needs of the time,” paliwanag ng lider ng mataas na kapulungan ng Kongreso.
Para kay Escudero sa ibang ahensya, huwag tularan ang PhilHealth na iginagarahe ang pondo sukdulang talikuran ang mandato.
“This is like a reminder, a wake-up call to them that ‘hey do your job’ because a lot of money is being wasted precisely because you don’t move, because you don’t provide benefits, because you don’t pay the debt you owe to hospitals, whether public or private, that until now are still waiting to be reimbursed.” (Estong Reyes)
