President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s ordered the return of P60 billion in excess funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), which was earlier returned to the national treasury.

During his visit to Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila, Marcos announced that PhilHealth’s P60-billion excess funds returned to state coffers will be reverted to the state health insurer due to savings mostly from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The Department of Finance (DOF) welcomed the decision, saying it had communicated to the President a “solicited opinion” that since PhilHealth had improved its revenue performance, “it supports a fund augmentation to boost the expansion of benefits and services, and that it fully recommends the restoration of the reverted P60 billion.”

The Finance Department added that another factor is the creation of fiscal space because of the termination and suspension of flood control projects.

After a review amid allegations of corruption regarding flood control projects, the DPWH resubmitted a leaner 2026 proposed budget of P625 billion—removing some P255 billion from the original proposal of over P881 billion.

The President ordered the DPWH and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to conduct a thorough review of the former’s budget, as his administration presses forward with its investigation into the flood control controversy.

Last Monday, Marcos reported a “menu” of sectors that the 2026 budget originally earmarked for flood control can be reallocated to. These sectors are education, agriculture, health, housing, infrastructure and information and communication technology (ICT), labor, social, and energy.

The DOF said the restoration of PhilHealth’s money will allow the state health to meet its Zero Balance Billing program obligations.

“The expansion of services requires the infusion of funds, and we in the revenue sector will do our job so that such an important public service will be financed,” the Finance Department said.

Last year, the DOF ordered the transfer of PhilHealth’s excess funds amounting to P89.9 billion to the Treasury, which were government subsidies that remained unused and not from member contributions.

Of this amount, P60 billion has already been transferred to state coffers, with only P29.9 billion remaining with PhilHealth before the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on the fund transfer in relation to the petitions filed by former senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and the Philippine Medical Association, among others.

In April, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto told the SC that the P60 billion was redirected to the following:

• P27.45 billion to pay the allowances of COVID-19 frontliners
• P10 billion to the Social Programs for Health to provide medical assistance to poor Filipinos
• P3.37 billion for the establishment of three DOH facilities
• P4.1 billion to strengthen existing DOH facilities
• P1.6 billion to the Health Facilities Enhancement Program
• P13 billion to fund the government counterpart financing for foreign-assisted infrastructure and social determinants for health projects

The DOF explained that the 2024 General Appropriations Act gave the agency the authority to sweep the idle and unused fund balance of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) to fund key priority projects of the government.

The Finance Department said that its “compliance with a law passed by Congress” triggered an upward readjustment of PhilHealth benefits.

The DOF said that a combination of management change and system overhaul led to significant improvements in PhilHealth services to its members.

It said that the package rate for breast cancer patients rose from P100,000 to P1.4 million, or a 1,300% increase.

Also, dialysis sessions and medications were made free for an entire year.

Likewise, the peritoneal dialysis treatment ceiling of P270,000 was raised almost four times, to P1,269,000.

The agency said that kidney transplant expenses are now reimbursable up to P2,100,000 from P600,000.

The DOF said that for post-kidney transplant care of child patients, benefits have been increased to up to P1,765,130 for the first year and up to P810,732 for the succeeding year.

The Finance Department added that severe dengue hospitalization costs have been raised from P16,000 to P47,000, while benefits for cataract patients have been increased by up to 826.238%, or from P20,200 to P187,100.

Therapy and rehabilitation sessions and assistive mobility devices for persons with disabilities are also now covered by the state health insurer up to P40,000, according to the DOF.

It said that optometric services for children up to 15 years old (P2,500), as well as therapeutic care for severe acute malnutrition for children 60 months old and below (P7,500 to P17,000), are now covered by PhilHealth.

Other benefits expanded under PhilHealth include open-heart surgeries.

“The benefits for ventricular septal defect went up to P614,000 (from P250,000), as well as total correction of tetralogy of fallot (P614,000 from P320,000) and coronary artery bypass graft surgery (up to P960,000 from P550,000),” the DOF said.

“Heart valve repair and/or replacement for valvular heart diseases for pedia and adults have also increased up to P816,500 and P825,000,” it said.

The DOF, moreover, said that inpatient benefits were also increased for neonatal sepsis (P25,793 from P11,700), bronchial asthma (P22,488 from P9,000), ischemic heart disease (P523,853 from P21,900), and COVID-19 (P55,000 from P43,997).

“Preventive oral care health services in primary care are now covered by PhilHealth with benefits ranging from P200 to P1,500 on a per-tooth or per-visit basis,” it said.