Should We Be Worried About Philhealth?

While we have to admit that our social security and government services are not up to par with Europe's, whatever we have is still infinitely better than having nothing at all. Hence, when I read the Manila Bulletin headline over the weekend with Senator Loren Legarda stating that our Philhealth may last only for a few more years, I was deeply alarmed.

After doing an internet search, inquirer says that Philhealth Vice President for Actuary Nerissa Santiago is the one that revealed the information to the public. She recommends that the contributions be increased, to sustain the project in the next few years, based on their projections. This is because the government owes the fund some Php19.2B.

Of course, a counter-statement has also been released by Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, denying that our Philhealth fund is in danger of collapsing. The actual amount owed by the government may be a smaller amount, and the difference comes from Philhealth's personal computation, versus the Department of Budget and Management''s computation, which would be subject to discussion between the two offices.

So what's the real deal? At the moment, we can only wait for the true story to come out. But is an increase in contributions really the solution? Can we handle the increase in contributions without an increase in the basic salaries? And if the government declares an increase in minimum wage, can our economy truly afford this increase? Hopefully, these are things the government will consider when they enter into their discussions about our meager Philhealth fund.