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An urgent bill allowing President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to halt the rise in premiums for “direct contributors” of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), such as employees, has been filed by five House of Representatives leaders.

The authors of House Bill (HB) No. 6772 claimed in their file that the country has only just begun to recover from the losses and hardships brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak since many businesses have yet to reopen and numerous people are still without jobs.

The suspension of the adjustment, according to the speaker and one of the authors Martin Romualdez, would relieve millions of government and private sector employees, professionals, self-employed individuals, and other PhilHealth contributors of an additional financial burden as they continue to deal with the pandemic.

He said that if the adjustment is deferred, daily wage earners and numerous employees, who make up the majority of PhilHealth members, will save at least PHP50 per month or PHP600 per year on their health insurance monthly payment.

He asserted that “those earning more will naturally save more.”

This year, contributions under Republic Act No. 11223, also known as the “Universal Health Care Act,” would rise from 4% to 4.5%, or from the required minimum monthly premium of PHP400 to PHP450.

Starting in 2025, the rate will rise further to 5%.

By the proposed bill, RA 11223, which was passed in 2018, is to be modified.

Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe, Senior Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, and Representatives Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre from the Tingog Party list are also co-authors of the legislation.

The President of the Philippines may, upon recommendation of the PhilHealth board, suspend and adjust the period of implementation of the scheduled increase in premium rates during national emergencies or calamities, or when the public interest so requires, according to their proposed amendment, which was filed on January 13 of last year.

It would fall under Section 10 of the law as a new paragraph.

The Universal Health Care Act’s stated goal is to “ensure that all Filipinos are provided fair access to quality and affordable health care goods and services and protected against financial risk,” as the authors of the amendatory bill noted in their filing of the legislation.

“The law’s intention is obvious and cannot be underlined enough. A full range of high-quality, affordable health care that are sensitive to the needs of all residents is needed and deserved by Filipinos, they claimed.

Since the majority of Filipinos are already coping with the pandemic, they continued, “While PhilHealth just seeks to fulfill and remain committed to its mandate, putting a higher premium on Filipinos will unquestionably impose a new round of financial stress on its members.”

They said that Marcos had backed calls to postpone this year’s rise in PhilHealth fees.

They mentioned that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin issued a memo suspending the adjustment and income ceiling for this year on the President’s directives.

The authors claimed that postponing the implementation of the new PhilHealth premium rates would give much-needed assistance during national emergencies or calamities and reassure Filipinos that the government was considerate of their feelings during this trying period.

According to RA 11223 “those who have the capacity to pay premiums, are gainfully employed and are bound by an employer-employee relationship, or are self-earning, professional practitioners, migrant workers, including their qualified dependents, and lifetime members” are considered direct contributors.

All “those not listed as direct contributors, as well as their qualified dependents, whose premium shall be subsidized by the national government including those who are supported as a result of special laws” are referred to as “indirect contributors.”

Senator Grace Poe submitted a measure in July of last year asking Marcos to have the authority to halt the PhilHealth premium increase.

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