PhilHealth
Medicines are next
March 30, 2026
FEATURES
At face value it may sound like a gentle reminder that prevention is better than cure, but it screams a harder truth: Filipinos cannot afford to be sick.
2026 Health Budget: Alarming symptoms of sick governance
February 5, 2026
FEATURES
But a closer examination of the 2026 national budget reveals alarming symptoms of sick governance.
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.
