MANILA – Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez is hopeful that actual needs for the government’s universal health care (UHC) program will not exceed estimates, citing possible gains of the measures against sin products.
The five-year UHC program is estimated to need P257 billion for its first year of implementation in 2020, while the five-year funding requirement is projected to be about P1.437 trillion.
Funding is programmed to be sourced primarily from sin tax collections.
In a briefing Thursday, Dominguez said the government is “only dealing with estimates because we don’t have a universal health care program.”
“I suspect that sometime in the future we will have to revisit the estimates and compare it against actual,” he said, citing that UHC is among the major government programs targeted to improve people’s productivity.
Dominguez said the estimated funding requirement would likely not be hit as he hoped that Filipinos improve their lifestyle, partly because of sin tax reforms, which increase excise taxes on tobacco and alcoholic products, e-cigarettes and sugary drinks.
“Maybe, who knows, Filipinos will actually get into the habit of eating better, smoking less, drinking less so that the total cost of the universal health care is going to go down. That is really very important, you have to take care of yourself first,” he said.
Dominguez also hailed lawmakers’ decision to ratify on Wednesday the proposed excise tax increases for alcohol, heated tobacco, and vapor products. (PNA)
