Overwhelmingly underfunded

November 8, 2025

“As I was being wheeled out of the hospital, I took vivid mental note of the institution’s decrepit condition – details I may have overlooked while receiving care from our underpaid health workers.”

Where are the hospitals with Zero Balance Billing?

August 13, 2025

PhilHealth’s No Balance or Zero Balance Billing program is available in only 78 Department of Health hospitals and 4 GOCC hospitals nationwide, with five still under development. But only patients in basic accommodation or ward sections can avail of this benefit. Despite this program, the government has failed to substantially decrease the share of out-of-pocket […]

PhilHealth rate hikes long overdue

August 11, 2025

Critical Health Bar

April 12, 2025

While I felt relieved to finally have a diagnosis and a treatment plan, I still had to figure out how to afford it.

Reducing PhilHealth’s finances only makes it more difficult to meet its already unmet targets

February 25, 2025

Related: The implications on the right to health and the people of issues raised in GR Nos 274778, 275405, and 276233

Gov’t mishandling of PhilHealth violates right to health, exposes budget mispriorities

February 5, 2025

The PhilHealth controversy is only a specific example of worsening underfunding of social services and social protection. It further reveals how flawed the budget process is.

PhilHealth Zero Subsidy: Reflection of Government Neglect

December 23, 2024

Abruptly defunding the insurance agency will not address the growing problems of health financing, especially without concrete steps from the government to resolve them.

Not another PhilHealth mess, please

August 25, 2024

Why is the Marcos Jr government maneuvering to centralize PhilHealth’s robust funds when ordinary Filipinos – the PhilHealth members and sponsored indigents – are receiving less and less health services? This is unraveling to be just one of the many ironies in the Marcos Jr government’s optimistic portrayal of the national situation.

Universal Health Care: 5 years later

April 8, 2024

FEATURES

Five years of unfortunate health events seem to be just that, unfortunate, but clearly show the state’s systematic letting go of its responsibility to promote the people’s right to health.