In a meeting held on January 04, 2023, the Board of Directors of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) affirmed PhilHealth's compliance with the directive from the President of the Philippines to suspend the premium rate increase from 4.0% to 4.5% and the increase of income ceiling from P80,000 to P90,000 in CY 2023.

With such suspension, the premium rate for CY 2023 remains at 4% with income ceiling of P80,000. A separate Advisory will be issued to provide the guidelines implementing the said directive particularly for the direct contributors.

In addition, the new benefit packages for roll-out, which were scheduled to be sourced from the premium increase, shall be implemented as planned. These include the Outpatient Therapeutic Care for Severe Acute Malnutrition, Outpatient Package for Mental Health, Comprehensive Outpatient Benefit, among others. The Management was directed to employ the necessary strategies to ensure implementation of these benefits.

Likewise, we assure the public that the current benefits being enjoyed by members will not be affected by the said suspension.

We also reiterate that PhilHealth's financial standing remains strong. The Management is confident that, notwithstanding the suspension of the increase in premium rates, PhilHealth is more than able to meet its financial obligations to its members and partner health care providers.