MALACAÑANG has announced that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) allocated P10.3 billion for the Zero Balance Billing (ZBB) program.
The ZBB aims to ensure that patients in Department of Health (DOH) hospitals pay nothing, as the government will cover all costs.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the funding covers not only DOH hospitals but also six pilot local government unit (LGU) hospitals.
“In line with the president’s vision, the fund ensures that the public will directly feel the nation’s assistance,” Castro said in Filipino.
Castro said that of the total allocation, about P3.3 billion will be allotted for DOH hospitals in Metro Manila, and over P6 billion will be for the program’s implementation in regional DOH hospitals and other health facilities.
The remaining P1 billion is intended for the ZBB in six pilot LGU hospitals in Benguet, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Aklan, and Sarangani.
Additional funds will expand support to local facilities, ensuring that zero out-of-pocket expenses will reach local communities.
“These steps stem from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s desire to bring government services closer to patients because, in the Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines), financial burdens should never stand in the way of recovery,” Castro said in Filipino.
Budget cuts
Health workers and health advocates on Wednesday staged a protest rally near the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City as lawmakers deliberated the proposed 2027 budget of the Department of Health (DOH), opposing what they said were billions of pesos in cuts to public hospitals.
Members of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) gathered as the House Committee on Appropriations held its hearing on the proposed DOH budget.
The DBM said P353.8 billion was allocated for health, covering the DOH, specialty hospitals, and PhilHealth.
HEAD speakers called for increased government funding for health care and criticized continued out-of-pocket expenses for patients.
"President Marcos said during his July 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) that there are genuine projects for everyone, for medicine, for Zero Balance Billing, but it's not true because our patients are still incurring out-of-pocket expenses," the groups said.
They called for free and financially accessible health care services, saying, "It is our right to have free, quality and affordable health care services."
HEAD said all 86 DOH-retained public hospitals have no capital outlay allocation under the proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program.
It also cited Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses cuts in 11 of 14 DOH-retained hospitals in Metro Manila, including a 31-percent reduction at Quirino Memorial Medical Center, 20 percent at the National Center for Mental Health, and 28 percent at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
AHW, meanwhile, said the proposed budget includes a P33.9 billion cut affecting 72 DOH hospitals and P5.4 billion in cuts to four specialty hospitals: the Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Lung Center of the Philippines, and Philippine Children's Medical Center.
The Philippine General Hospital is also facing a proposed P800 million budget cut, AHW said.
AHW Secretary General Cristy Donguines said the cuts would further weaken public hospitals already dealing with shortages of health workers, medicines, equipment and basic facilities.
It also cited proposed budget cuts for health workers and public hospitals as a concern, saying these could affect the delivery of essential health services.
Both groups called for the restoration and substantial increase of funding for public hospitals and health workers.
