MANILA -- Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman has approved the release of P2,021,895,000.00 to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) to cover the National Government (NG) health insurance premium subsidy for indigent members. 

The Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) covers the subsidy of the remaining 673,965 indigent members enrolled under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) for January to December 2022 or the final billing period. 

“We are happy that before this year ends, we were able to cover the remaining subsidy for the health premiums of our kababayans. This is our way of showing that the DBM supports President Marcos Jr.’s goal of providing affordable and inclusive health care for all Filipinos,” Secretary Pangandaman said. 

The latest release is chargeable against the FY 2022 built-in appropriation under the PHIC’s National Health Insurance Program (NHIP). 

To date, the DBM has released over P79.93 billion through three separate SAROs for the subsidy which corresponds to various billings for the full year (January to December 2022). This covers the health insurance premiums of 21,161,308 indirect contributors. 

“Maganda po ang hangarin ng National Health Insurance Program. That is why we made sure po that the program will have a continuous fund for next year. In fact, for fiscal year 2023, the DBM has allocated over P100 billion for its implementation,” Secretary Pangandaman noted. (DBM)