Manila: The Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) have unveiled a 16-month reform plan designed to advance PhilHealth's RISE30 Mission. This initiative aims to enhance access, equity, and efficiency in the delivery of Universal Health Care (UHC) across the Philippines.
According to Philippines News Agency, more than 100 participants, including global development partners, financial institutions, academic institutions, foundations, civil society organizations, government oversight agencies, and other stakeholders, alongside PhilHealth officers and technical staff, gathered at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters to align resources and technical expertise behind the UHC reforms.
DOH Acting Secretary Edwin Mercado, acting PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Beverly Lorraine Ho, and ADB Country Director Andrew Jeffries led the 2026 PhilHealth Partners' Forum. This forum was pivotal in directly aligning partner resources and expertise with the sector's Shared Agenda and PhilHealth's multi-year Technical Assistance (TA) Agenda.
Mercado shared his vision of creating a dedicated division for hospital operations to ensure a unified hospital command that strategically aligns healthcare supply and demand. He emphasized the importance of financial transparency and monitoring in hospital operations to align public and private hospital agreements effectively.
Meanwhile, Ho highlighted efforts to strengthen inpatient payments through a global budget using diagnosis-related groups. She emphasized a shift towards quality healthcare, with milestone-based incentives recognizing better health outcomes as a key strategy.
The event also featured a tribute to PhilHealth and its partners, acknowledging their coordinated success in advancing UHC reforms over the past 18 months. Department of Finance Secretary Frederick Go expressed his support for the agencies' shared agenda, emphasizing the importance of sustainable health financing and strong institutional governance.
ADB Director of the Human and Social Development Sector Office, Eduardo Banzon, commended PhilHealth's progress and expressed optimism for the future of healthcare reforms in the Philippines. Ho reaffirmed PhilHealth's commitment to building a supportive ecosystem alongside the DOH, emphasizing the continued expansion of the partner network to support ongoing UHC reforms.
