EVMC spends P1.08B for Zero Balance Billing

Posted on October 6, 2026 at 7:26 am

Talcoban City — More than 103,000 patients have benefited from the Zero Balance Billing (ZBB) program at the Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC), with the hospital reporting P1.08 billion in expenses for the program since it was launched in July 2025.

EVMC officials said Tuesday, September 22, that 103,818 patients have availed themselves of the program at the region’s tertiary hospital.

Dr. Jenny Lind Lesiguez, EVMC chief of medical professional staff, said the program covers outpatients, patients admitted through the emergency room, and those confined in basic or ward accommodations.

Patients may avail themselves of ZBB regardless of their economic status, illness, complications, or length of stay, as long as they are admitted in a basic or ward accommodation, Lesiguez said.

She added that about 80 to 100 patients are discharged under the program each day.

Melchor Lantajo Jr., head of the EVMC finance division, said 41,890 of the beneficiaries were ward patients from July 29, 2025, to the end of August 2026.

Under the program, the national government provides funds to EVMC to cover the hospital expenses of qualified patients.

Lantajo said that when the release of funds is delayed, the hospital records the services as quantified free services (QFS), an accounting mechanism used by government hospitals for services covered by subsidies.

The ZBB program was rolled out in Eastern Visayas following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address on July 28, 2025.

The program is intended to lessen the amount patients have to pay from their own pockets, particularly for those confined in basic accommodations.

Photo by: Rolly Magallanes