NAGKAISA Labor Coalition strongly condemns the budget priorities reflected in the FY 2027 national budget approved by the House of Representatives on second reading, which expand medical assistance while leaving PhilHealth without the additional funding it says it needs.
Under the version approved on second reading, the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients Program (MAIFIP) is increased to approximately ₱48 billion, while PhilHealth’s allocation remains at the National Expenditure Program level: ₱55 billion for premium subsidies and ₱19 billion for benefit improvements.
This is despite PhilHealth’s request for an additional ₱170 billion to cover the projected cost of claims for indirect contributors, including indigent Filipinos, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. PhilHealth President and CEO Beverly Lorraine Ho told lawmakers that projected claims for indirect contributors could reach ₱244 billion, against the ₱74 billion allocated in the NEP.
This funding gap is not new. It reflects years of inadequate government financing for universal healthcare.
In a May 2025 analysis published by Action for Economic Reforms (AER), public health specialist Dr. Jeepy Perez argued that Congress had deprived PhilHealth of funds needed to implement key elements of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law from 2023 to 2025. AER further cited data showing that, in 2023, only two-thirds of PhilHealth’s budget allocation for indirect and indigent members was released, even as claims for these members exceeded the allocation.
The medical community has raised similar concerns. In July 2026, a coalition of 75 medical organizations urged the government to fully fund PhilHealth, saying the state insurer remained severely underfunded despite rising benefit payments. The groups noted that the Executive branch had provided only one-fifth of PhilHealth’s required budget in 2025.
These warnings make the current budget choice especially troubling. Rather than decisively addressing years of underfunding, the version approved by the House on second reading substantially expands medical assistance while leaving PhilHealth’s allocation unchanged from the Executive’s proposal.
NAGKAISA recognizes that medical assistance can provide immediate relief to families struggling with hospital bills. But assistance dispensed on a case-by-case basis is not a substitute for a properly financed universal healthcare system that guarantees coverage according to people’s needs and entitlements.
The expansion of MAIFIP alongside the failure to close PhilHealth’s funding gap raises serious concerns about continued reliance on a system in which sick Filipinos must seek assistance to pay for medical care. Such a system risks leaving vulnerable families dependent on discretionary decisions and political intermediaries instead of being able to rely on clear, enforceable healthcare entitlements.
“Politicians should not be able to present themselves as benefactors dispensing medical assistance when government has a duty to guarantee healthcare as a right,” NAGKAISA said.
NAGKAISA denounces the apparent prioritization of politicians’ penchant for patronage politics over the full financing of PhilHealth and Universal Health Care. We cannot ignore the political incentives built into a system where patients must seek help for their hospital bills while the public insurance institution mandated to protect them remains underfunded.
Universal healthcare must not depend on which politician can provide assistance, whose office a patient approaches, or whose intervention can secure a hospital bill’s payment. It must depend on a properly funded public system that protects people because healthcare is their right.
NAGKAISA therefore calls on Congress to substantially increase PhilHealth funding as deliberations on the FY 2027 national budget continue, address the estimated ₱170-billion funding gap, and ensure that the final budget strengthens rather than undermines the Universal Health Care system.
Public funds must finance public entitlements—not entrench political patronage.
Healthcare is a right, not a political favor. Fully fund PhilHealth. Defend Universal Health Care.
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