IHPDS, in collaboration with other national stakeholders, conceptualized the PWSA to strengthen support for the working group. Distinct from existing government health financing provisions, the PWSA is envisioned to provide better health outcomes for larger Filipino populations.

March 3, 2023 — Dr. Hilton Lam, director of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies (IHPDS) at UP Manila, proposed during the Feb 28 NIH conference the passage of the Philippine Wellness Savings Account (PWSA)  to improve and eventually futureproof the financial mechanisms of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law 

The PWSA is a health financing tool formulated during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the insufficient health safety net mechanisms provided by the government to the Filipino working class. 

Pre-pandemic, social amelioration programs were highly mobilized for Filipino indigents. When the pandemic weakened the Philippine economy that resulted in the loss of employment of many from the working class, PhilHealth and other health financing facilities of the government were found not fully capable of supporting the health financial needs of the unemployed Filipinos. 

Thus, the IHPDS, in collaboration with other national stakeholders, conceptualized the PWSA to strengthen support for the working group. Distinct from existing government health financing provisions, the PWSA is envisioned to provide better health outcomes for larger Filipino populations.

The PWSA is patterned from a financing framework adopted by different countries, such as in China and Singapore, and even in the United States. Studies have proven that the implementation of health savings accounts in the said countries resulted in positive outcomes such as high acceptance rates, better access rate to healthcare programs, and lesser rates of national health expenditures. 

In a nutshell, the PWSA is a savings account (SA) which will be solely managed by the account holder (an employee or employer) and accessed through Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-accredited banks. Dr. Lam emphasized that contributions to this SA will be completely tax-free and account holders may earn interest incomes from their savings. He also iterated that the government cannot have direct provisions on the PWSA.

Generally, account holders may enjoy health benefits through this savings account including services for health promotion and mental health, among others. Additionally, PWSA unused balances for a specific period of time may be utilized for investment purposes such as in education and housing. This unused amount is also transferrable to another account holder upon death. At the age of 75, account holders may also withdraw a maximum amount tax- and penalty-free.

In the next few years, Dr. Lam and his research team will continue to strengthen the PWSA’s empirical estimations and later subject these to national acceptability and feasibility studies.

Francis Nicole G. Maga