The zero billing scheme in Department of Health hospitals that Ferdinand Marcos Jr boasted of in his state of the nation address (SONA) last month is nothing but a scam. The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) belied that patients will pay nothing. The program covers laboratory tests, medicine, and doctors’ professional fees but patients may still spend for medicine or services those hospitals do not offer. In addition, the program exempts seriously ill patients needing private rooms and those requiring specialized care.

Patients can only benefit from the zero billing program in 87 hospitals nationwide, 20 of which are concentrated in the National Capital Region. The program does not cover the four large specialty hospitals—the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center, National Kidney Transplant Institute, and Philippine Children’s Medical Center—which care for severely ill patients.

Because of its very limited scope, zero billing will not change the rate of out-of-pocket payment, or the amount citizens pay directly for health services, according to Ibon Foundation. In 2024, 42.75% of health expenditures came from citizens’ own resources.

The AHW also condemned Marcos for turning over basic health funding services to PhilHealth, an agency riddled with anomalies and corruption. He stripped the agency of funds this year, allocating only ₱53.3 billion for 2026. According to the group, it still owes hospitals ₱8 billion for the years 2018 to 2024.

The AHW added that this scheme will worsen the situation of hospitals and health workers, who are already burdened with excessive workloads because of the lack of personnel. In the same SONA where Marcos flaunted zero billing, he did not mention increasing the number of nurses and doctors, raising their salaries, or immediately granting their benefits. He also failed to mention plans for building new hospitals to serve the growing Filipino population and to reduce the scarcity of medical services in many parts of the country.