Senior leadership of the Department of Health (DOH) faced intense questioning from lawmakers during a Senate panel hearing regarding the agency’s shifting financial projections and its struggle to hit core milestones under the Universal Health Care (UHC) program.
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson highlighted concerns over whether the executive branch’s financing strategies effectively direct the program, pointing out that spending benchmarks have undergone continuous revisions since implementation began.
Lacson noted that the DOH adopted varying low-, medium-, and high-tier expenditure models, making it difficult to evaluate progress against original objectives.
“One thing I noticed since the UHC rolled out in 2020, the spending plans kept changing. Where are we in the implementation of the UHC? We first aimed for medium-end, then low-end. From what I understand, we should have had high-end coverage in 2026. Where are we now?” Lacson pointed out during the Senate Committee on Finance hearing on the DOH’s proposed 2027 budget.
Lacson referenced the DOH’s 2019–2022 Medium Term Expenditure Program (MTEP), which initially projected UHC funding requirements at ₱168.23 billion for a baseline low-end scenario, ₱257.08 billion for a medium-tier scenario covering priority regions, and ₱286.33 billion for a high-tier setup aiming for nationwide barangay coverage.
These estimates were later adjusted under the 2020–2023 MTEP, elevating the low-end requirement to ₱199.01 billion and the high-end goal to ₱469.39 billion.
A subsequent modification under the 2023–2028 Health Care Financing Strategy set new spending targets: ₱329.7 billion for low-end, ₱456.53 billion for medium-end, and ₱593.647 billion for high-end coverage. In contrast, actual health expenditures in 2022 totaled ₱283.52 billion.
“If we keep missing the targets, what are our financing strategies for?” Lacson asked.
The lawmaker also scrutinised the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) impact on mitigating personal medical expenditures. He noted that out-of-pocket health costs dropped to 41.2% by late 2025 from 55% in 2016, against a government goal to reduce it to 37% by 2028.
However, Lacson emphasized that these figures must be aligned with overall national healthcare expenditure records.
Additionally, he inquired whether funds allocated for UHC through special laws—such as Sin Tax revenues—were fully disbursed to the health department.
PhilHealth President and CEO Beverly Lorraine Ho explained that the insurer should be eligible to claim ₱127.55 billion spanning 2019 through the second quarter of 2026, adding that ₱21 billion was budgeted annually for 2023 and 2024.
“What is the gap from these special laws earmarked for the DOH? They are included in the GAA. You are dependent on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on how much will be released for the UHC,” Lacson asked.
Lacson offered legislative intervention, noting that Congress can utilize its oversight authority to guarantee that statutory funds reach their intended destinations.
“This is where we can help you. We have oversight powers. If the DBM does not comply with special laws earmarking funds for UHC, this is where our oversight kicks in,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee and served as a principal author of the UHC Law, stressed that the framework must deliver accessible healthcare nationwide.
“But it can only do so if it is sufficiently funded and properly implemented,” Ejercito said in his opening remarks before the committee proceeded with its review of the DOH and its attached agencies’ proposed budget.
“Now that we chair the Senate Committee on Finance, our vision for this budget is clear: not just increased funding, but also more accessible healthcare services and lower out-of-pocket medical expenses,” he further said.
Ejercito highlighted the necessity of strengthening PhilHealth by aligning its benefit structures directly with the practical medical needs of patients.
“We also aim to ensure increased PhilHealth coverage for hospital bills to further reduce the out-of-pocket expenses of every patient,” he said.
He urged the committee to look beyond numerical targets and assess whether proposed allocations result in genuine improvements for patients on the ground.
“Our task is to determine whether the proposed 2027 budget truly brings us closer to that promise, not only on paper but in the patient’s actual experience,” Ejercito stressed.
“Because health is one of the clearest tests if the national budget is working for ordinary Filipinos,” he reiterated.