MANILA, Philippines: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is studying a request by the Department of Health (DoH) to defer the implementation of the additional 5 percent contribution to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, or PhilHealth, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said he sent a letter to the President requesting a suspension on the implementation of the PhilHealth premium rate increase this year.

"The President is studying the request," the Presidential Communications Office said in a text message to reporters.

The increase is in accordance with the Universal Health Care (UHC), enacted in 2019 by then President Rodrigo Duterte, with the law mandating that the PhilHealth contribution rate be increased to 5 percent by 2024.

A 4.5 percent increase was supposed to be implemented last year, but Marcos ordered its suspension, as well as a raise in the income ceiling because members were still reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.