A Critical Analysis of Purchasing of Health Services in the Philippines: A Case Study of PhilHealth

This study is a critical analysis of health services purchasing undertaken by Phil Health which implements the National Health Insurance Program of the Philippines. Purchasing is about how an institution should determine, negotiate for, and obtain health services on behalf of a group of people which has contributed resources, either through taxes, premiums, or point-of-service payments, in exchange for anticipated health services. The study employs a principal/agent framework for analyzing three critical relationships: that between the purchaser and health care providers, between the purchaser and citizens (or members of Philhealth), and between the purchaser and the government, both as regulator and as funder of services, at the national government and local government levels.