HMO profit more than doubles in H1

MANILA, Philippines — The health maintenance organization (HMO) industry in the country more than doubled its earnings to P1.47 billion in the first half from P636.6 million a year ago, according to the Insurance Commission (IC).

The industry generated P47.03 billion from January to June, 21 percent higher than the P38.75 billion recorded in the same period last year.

“Despite the big increase in the payout of health care benefits, the HMO industry continued its return to profitability due to higher revenues,” the IC said in a statement.

Data from the insurance regulator showed that health care benefits and claims paid out by HMOs rose by nearly 20 percent to P36.3 billion during the six-month period from P30.33 billion a year earlier.

The regulator said health care benefits and claims accounted for almost 80 percent of overall expenses in the industry.

Including income tax, the total expenses went up by 19.5 percent to P45.6 billion.

The total assets of the HMO industry in the said period reached P83.9 billion, an increase of 21 percent from P69.26 billion in the same period of 2024. Liabilities also surged higher by nearly 24 percent to P72.25 billion from just P58.3 billion last year.

Total invested assets, however, declined by 13 percent in the first half, dropping to P18.23 billion from P20.9 billion recorded during the same period last year.

The insurance regulator attributed the decline in total invested assets to the maturity of cash equivalents, which registered a net decrease of nearly 26 percent, or P2.51 billion from January to June.

This aligns with the earlier report of the regulator that the ratio of insurance premiums to gross domestic product went up slightly to 1.8 percent in the second quarter.