“Pera ng taumbayan ‘yan. Dapat lang naman ibalik sa kanila sa pamamagitan ng mas maayos at mas malawak na health benefits. Ang pondo ng PhilHealth ay para sa health ng bawat Pilipino,” Go stressed.
The senator, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, made the reminder following reports that PhilHealth is prepared to incur another year of financial losses as it continues expanding benefits for its members.
According to news reports, PhilHealth Senior Vice President Renato Limsiaco Jr. said the state health insurer is prioritizing stronger benefits rather than restricting expenditures merely to break even financially.
“But we still have retained earnings. We still have reserve funds. Why would we control the expenses? People need support,” Limsiaco was quoted as saying.
Go said the position is consistent with what he has repeatedly demanded from PhilHealth over the years: use available resources for patients, expand benefit packages, and reduce the amount Filipinos have to pay out of their own pockets whenever they fall ill.
“Hindi po negosyo ang PhilHealth na kailangan palaguin. Dapat po ito’y gamitin sa mga pasyente,” Go had earlier stressed as he pushed the agency to maximize its resources for healthcare.
Go said financial sustainability remains necessary to ensure that PhilHealth can fulfill its mandate in the long term, but maintaining reserves should not result in funds being left idle while Filipinos continue struggling with expensive treatment, medicines, diagnostic procedures, and hospitalization.
For the first quarter of 2026, PhilHealth reportedly incurred a net loss of PhP17.902 billion as benefit claims and other expenses reached PhP99.893 billion, exceeding its PhP77.047 billion income during the period.
For the full year, benefit claims are projected to reach PhP378.786 billion, while premium contributions are expected at PhP246.920 billion. The difference is expected to be covered by government subsidies, interest and other income, and accumulated resources.
Go said the figures should be viewed in the context of PhilHealth's social mandate.
“Hindi dapat ang sukatan ng tagumpay ng PhilHealth ay kung gaano kalaki ang perang naiipon nito. Ang tunay na sukatan ay kung gaano kalaki ang nababawas sa gastos ng pasyente at kung gaano karaming Pilipino ang natutulungan kapag nagkasakit,” he said.
PhilHealth currently has substantial reserves available to support its benefit packages. According to the report, the agency has around PhP308.950 billion in reserve funds, apart from retained earnings and income generated by those reserves.
Go has long questioned the accumulation of purported “excess” funds at PhilHealth while patients continued facing significant out-of-pocket medical expenses.
He previously argued that those excesses might not have accumulated had benefit packages been expanded earlier and existing funds been deployed more aggressively for patients.
“Gamitin n’yo po ang pondo—pataasin, pagandahin, at palawakin n’yo ang mga benepisyo at coverage. Expand benefit packages,” Go earlier told PhilHealth.
This position became particularly significant after PhilHealth transferred PhP89.9 billion in purported excess funds to the National Treasury beginning in 2024 for unprogrammed appropriations.
The Supreme Court later struck down the legal basis for the transfer and affirmed that PhilHealth reserve funds and excess resources are subject to the Universal Health Care Act, under which excess funds may be used for purposes such as expanding benefits or reducing members' premium contributions.
Of the amount transferred, PhP60 billion was subsequently returned to PhilHealth. Government data show that the PhP60-billion restoration made PhilHealth the largest recipient of national government subsidies among government-owned and -controlled corporations during the first half of 2026.
Go said the episode reinforces his longstanding position that money intended for healthcare must remain within the health sector.
“The PhilHealth fund is for health—pondo po ‘yan para sa kalusugan ng bawat Pilipino,” Go previously stressed.
He likewise emphasized that government subsidies and revenues specifically earmarked for universal healthcare, including proceeds from sin taxes, must be provided and used according to law.
The issue takes on renewed significance as PhilHealth prepares its funding requirements for 2027. PhilHealth initially sought around PhP370 billion to finance expanded benefits, while the proposed 2027 national budget contains a substantially smaller government allocation for the agency. The 2027 National Expenditure Program was formally released by the Department of Budget and Management on August 11.
Go said Congress must carefully scrutinize both PhilHealth's available resources and the national government's required counterpart funding to ensure that expanded benefits remain sustainable without depriving patients of assistance they need today.
He also welcomed continuing efforts to strengthen primary and preventive healthcare, including PhilHealth's expanded primary-care benefits, saying earlier diagnosis and treatment can help prevent illnesses from progressing into medical conditions requiring more expensive hospitalization.
According to Go, however, reforms must eventually be measured by what patients themselves experience when they enter a hospital, pharmacy, diagnostic facility, or health center.
“Marami pa ring Pilipino ang takot magpaospital dahil iniisip nila kung saan sila kukuha ng pambayad. Kaya kung may pondo ang PhilHealth, gamitin natin para sa kanila,” he said.
Go also said he would continue exercising oversight over PhilHealth's commitments to expand its packages, eliminate outdated policies, improve claims processing, and reduce Filipinos' out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.
“Pondo ito ng taumbayan. Ibalik natin sa kanila sa paraang mararamdaman nila—mas mataas na benepisyo, mas malawak na coverage, at mas kaunting perang kailangang ilabas mula sa sarili nilang bulsa kapag sila ay nagkasakit,” Go concluded.
Senator Bong Go