1/ One of the most surprising provisions in the Universal Health Care Act passed last year was a mandatory increase of PhilHealth contributions among the formally employed. It has always been unpopular to raise premiums, so I was surprised how Congress got away w/ the 6-year hike 
2/ There's actually no mechanism in the law to delay the increases in premiums, just a guarantee from PhilHealth that every year, there will be increases in benefits. That may mean more health interventions covered, or increases in financial coverage of existing benefits.
3/ One of the guarantees is that PhilHealth should strengthen the implementation of zero co-payments for basic and ward accommodation (No Balance Billing), and set fixed co-payments for everything else. PhilHealth released a Circular earlier this week on this framework.
4/ What's disappointing with this administration is that they haven't really regained any lost public trust from the controversy surrounding the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM). But at the same time, the country's commitment to Universal Health Coverage must continue by law
5/ Notwithstanding any of the controversies, this country has committed, for the past 25 years, to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) by way of the National Health Insurance Program, which PhilHealth manages. So if we want to see UHC, reforming PhilHealth is our best shot.
6/ Then again, this administration has constantly flouted all our laws, the latest issue being the smuggling of unauthorized vaccines to inoculate military soldiers. So I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow, the President will sign an executive order pausing the premium increases.
7/7 Needless to say, all of this mess (for lack of a better word) probably put us 10 steps back from where we were last year on whatever small gains we had towards UHC. It's disappointing, and I think a lot of us should think very hard about what this all means in the long term.
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