The Department of Health (DOH) is studying the possibility of raising PhilHealth premium contributions for individuals found violating public safety laws, such as parents of minors injured by firecrackers and motorists breaking traffic rules.
Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said the measure would serve as a “deterrent” to discourage unsafe practices.
“We will study it… especially what if the parent of the [firecracker] victim was an informal settler or jobless and is being subsidized by the government… We always say that don’t let your children use firecrackers but still it happens. So, we are looking into ways to deter this,” he explained in a radio interview.
Domingo cited 1,113 road accidents recorded from December 21, 2025 to January 2, 2026, often caused by riders without helmets or under the influence of alcohol—an 82% increase from the same period last year.
He clarified that PhilHealth will continue covering victims’ expenses, especially in DOH-run hospitals under zero-balance billing.
“But there should be a way to charge them… that’s why we are looking into what other countries are doing, which is increasing insurance premiums,” Domingo said.
The DOH earlier reported that more than a thousand individuals were injured in road crashes during the holiday season.