Senator Risa Hontiveros has proposed a special budget provision allocating around P15 billion to expand zero balance billing to hospitals run by local government units under the proposed 2026 national budget.
The proposal would be sourced from the P51 billion fund approved for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients program. Hontiveros said the measure aims to extend free hospital treatment to LGU facilities that are currently excluded from full zero balance billing coverage.
At present, the zero balance billing program covers the full cost of services only for patients under basic or ward accommodation in hospitals operated by the Department of Health. Hontiveros said her proposed special provision seeks to expand the program to include LGU hospitals.
“If this provision will be accepted in the budget, we can guarantee that P15 billion or 30 percent of the P51 billion for MAIFIP will be provided to the LGU hospitals for free treatment under the ZBB,” Hontiveros said. She chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Demography.
She said the proposal builds on an allocation already included in the Senate version of the 2026 budget.
“I’m hopeful that the Senate bicam contingent will be open to accept my proposal, because we have also responded to the appeal of the DOH to expand the coverage of ZBB to LGU hospitals by giving P1 billion for our version of the 2026 budget,” she added.
Hontiveros said expanding zero balance billing would allow more Filipinos to receive free treatment since the program would no longer be limited to patients in 86 DOH hospitals but would also cover Filipinos seeking care in hundreds of LGU hospitals nationwide.
She said the proposed special provision is part of broader reforms she is pushing in the government’s medical assistance system through Senate Bill No. 1593, also known as the Universal Health Care Medical Assistance Program, which she recently sponsored in plenary.
“The goal of this proposed measure is to provide medical assistance to hospitals so they can give it straight to their patients. Whoever needs assistance will be given right away. No conditions, no replacement, and no patronage,” Hontiveros said.
Under the bill, patients may apply for medical assistance through registered social workers, who are required to process applications within 72 hours instead of requiring patients to apply for guarantee letters.
Hontiveros said she will continue to push for health reforms aimed at expanding access to care for Filipinos beyond the budget deliberations.
