NextGen Day

A bill giving the President the authority to halt the planned increase in “direct contributors'” premium payments to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and modify the implementation period in the event of a national emergency or calamity, or when the public interest so requires, was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday during its third and final reading.

House Bill 6772, which was approved with 273 votes in favor, three against, and no abstentions, aims to further revise Section 10 of Republic Act 11223, also known as the “Universal Health Care Act.”

The bill’s major author, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, said that millions of professionals, self-employed individuals, and other PhilHealth contributors who are still recovering from the pandemic will experience some savings as a result of the increase’s postponement.

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

Those with higher incomes will inevitably save more, he claimed.

The bill was co-authored by Representatives Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre of the party-list organization Tingog Sinirangan, Majority Leader Jose “Mannix” Dalipe, Senior Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, and several other lawmakers.

According to the writers, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. personally backed calls to postpone this year’s hike in PhilHealth fees.

“Direct contributors” are individuals who “have the ability 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,” according to RA 11223.

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

The bill also specifies that contributions will rise from the previous year’s minimum premium of PHP400 to PHP450, or from a percentage increase of 4% to 4.5 percent. The rate will increase further to 5% starting in 2019.

According to PhilHealth’s calculations, those who make PHP10,000 or less will pay a premium of PHP450, those who make PHP10,000 up to PHP89,999.99 will pay PHP450 to PHP4,050, and those who make PHP90,000 or more will pay PHP4,050.

“While PhilHealth only seeks to carry out and uphold its mandate, imposing a higher premium on Filipinos in this current environment where the majority of them are coping with the pandemic will definitely enforce a new round of financial burden to its members,” they added.

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