The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has brought back the P20,000 Guaranteed Medicines Access Program (GAMOT) benefit for every member and dependent starting Jan. 1.

In a public advisory on Wednesday, the state insurer said the benefit cap is per calendar year and covers eligible outpatient medicines under the GAMOT program.

It reminded members that "any unused GAMOT benefit from the previous year will not be carried over to the current year."

Members and their dependents are encouraged to use the benefit within the year to help lower out-of-pocket costs for essential medicines.

PhilHealth also reminded partner health care providers that, for calendar year 2026, the deadline to submit applications for accreditation renewal has been extended to Jan. 14.

Applications must be complete, with no gaps in the providers’ Department of Health (DOH) license to operate or certification, and submitted on or before the new deadline to ensure continuous accreditation.

The state insurer warned that applications filed after Jan. 14 will be treated as re-accreditation, which could cause delays or gaps in PhilHealth accreditation and affect the services members receive.

Providers are advised to send their applications to their Local Health Insurance Offices or PhilHealth Regional Offices (PROs).

For questions, PhilHealth said providers can coordinate with their PROs or contact the official PhilHealth hotlines.

The extension is meant to give partner providers extra time to meet accreditation requirements and help make sure PhilHealth members nationwide continue to have access to health services without interruptions.