Expansion of Health Insurance in the Philippines
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World Bank, Washington, DC
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In December 2012, the government of the
Philippines passed the Sin Tax Law (RA 10351) which
restructured and raised tobacco and alcohol taxes, while
earmarking 85 percent of the incremental revenues for
health. Of this 85 percent, 80 percent was intended to be
used to provide free health insurance for poor and near-poor
families through the National Health Insurance Program
managed by PhilHealth, programs intended to speed progress
of the health Millennium Development Goals, and programs to
promote health awareness. The remaining 20 percent augments
the financing of the Medical Assistance Program of the
Department of Health (DOH), which is a hospital-based fund
(in the name of mayors, congressmen, and DOH officials) that
can be used at the discretion of the facility to cover the
medical costs of those who cannot afford to pay, and also
the DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program which allows
the DOH to supplement the local governments’ investments in
health facilities. This reform was important from a health
financing perspective.In November 2014, free health
insurance coverage was also extended to the elderly. This
paper assesses the extent to which the automatic enrollment
of a large number of poor and elderly people into health
insurance programs, as a result of the Sin Tax Law, has been
associated with an increase in self-reported health
insurance coverage, especially among the poorest quintiles
and households living below the poverty line.
Palabras clave
HEALTH INSURANCE, UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE, SIN TAX, TOBACCO TAX