Health care inflation

All surveys in recent years have shown the high prices of goods and services as the biggest concern of most Filipinos, with the Marcos administration consistently getting the lowest performance ratings in taming inflation.

The focus has long been on the rising prices of food, particularly rice, as well as fuel and transport costs.

There is another sector, however, where goods and services are constantly on the rise: health care. This year, medical costs in the Philippines are projected to post a double-digit increase, the second highest in the Asia-Pacific. A survey conducted by London-based multinational advisory, broking and solutions company WTW or Willis Towers Watson showed that health care benefit costs in the Philippines are expected to go up this year by 18.3 percent.