Financial Barriers to Access Health Care Services: A Case Study of the Philippines

health care services based on the structure of the health financing system and recent experience in the Philippines. It suggests that functions in the health financing system, in particular payment schemes, have a powerful influence on the behavior of all actors in health systems and this determines who bears the financial risks and financial burdens of access to health services. In the Philippines, the current payment schemes appear to cause moral hazard to providers, and give a strong impetus to increasing health expenditures. In addition, providers may capture insurance benefits as rent, and this may critically impede reduction in the financial burdens of the poor. Using the accreditation function of PhilHealth would be a pragmatic policy tool to control health care costs in the Philippines. Monitoring will be crucial to realize the expected benefits of accreditation. In addition, the quality of free public health care services needs to be improved and informal payments (donations) need to be reduced. 1 Inter-disciplinary Studies Center, Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO), Japan.