Filipinos still pay 41.2% of healthcare costs out of pocket

HMO coverage is taking on part of the bill, with Intellicare paying ₱9.35B in 6 months.

Health maintenance firm Asalus Corp., which operates Intellicare, paid ₱9.35 billion in healthcare benefits and claims in the first half of the year, giving a sense of the financial role HMOs play when Filipinos need medical care.

That role is particularly relevant in a country where households still shoulder a large share of healthcare costs. In 2025, out-of-pocket payments accounted for 41.2% of the Philippines’ current health expenditure, while total health spending reached ₱1.87 trillion, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The payout came as the Insurance Commission reported that benefit payouts across the HMO industry grew 13.62% year-on-year to ₱41.23 billion during the same period.

Industry-wide revenues rose 19.99% to ₱56.43 billion, while membership fees increased 19.71% to ₱54.82 billion. Total industry assets reached ₱99.64 billion.

Intellicare, meanwhile, reported ₱12.57 billion in revenues and ₱21.88 billion in total assets as of June 30.

The company serves more than 1.2 million members nationwide, giving some scale to the number of Filipinos relying on HMO coverage when they need medical care.

An HMO plan can help keep a medical emergency from becoming a full household expense, although the actual protection still depends on the plan, its coverage and its limits. The HMO numbers therefore have a direct household angle, showing how much medical care is being paid through coverage when members need it.

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