A new study in the Philippines has revealed that the total health spending in the country had reached PHP1.4tn ($23.81bn) in 2024, which translates to about 5% of the country's GDP.
According to a news report published in the Philippine daily Inquirer, the study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) found that the public spending drove most of this growth through the Department of Health, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and local government units, which increased 2.6 times from 2014 until 2024.
The PIDS report also found that the out-of-pocket spending between 2014 and 2024 also rose by 1.6 times. According to the Philippine National Health Accounts, Filipino households’ out-of-pocket expenses amounted to PHP615.16bn in 2024. This represented an 11.8% increase from the PHP550.08bn posted in 2023. The new data translates to roughly PHP12,000 per Filipino, an increase from about PHP3,000 in 2000.
The report says that out-of-pocket expenses continue to remain high, even though 95m citizens are already enrolled in the country’s national health insurance system.
To ease this burden, PhilHealth plans to cut out-of-pocket medical expenses by up to 25% in three years, however, this can happen only if the government increases health spending.