PASAY CITY -- Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Wednesday urged the Senate to amend Republic Act No. 11223 or the Universal Healthcare (UHC) Law to lower current premium rates being collected by the Philippine Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Ejercito, who principally sponsored the UHC Law during his first term in the Senate, said adjusting these premium rates is necessary, given that the country is still recovering from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to adapt to the situation. Maaari pong maganda nga ang intensiyon ng pagtataas ng singil. Ngunit nauunawaan po natin na bumabangon pa lamang mula sa hagupit ng pandemya ang ating mga kababayan,” he said while presiding over a joint hearing of the Senate’s panels on health and demography, migrant workers, and finance.
“Ang pangunahing po layunin ng UHC ay mapagaan ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino,” he added.
In July 2022, Ejercito filed Senate Bill No. 160, which aims to introduce several reforms to the collection of PhilHealth premiums.
Proposed amendments seek to revise PhilHealth’s premium rate schedule; base the contribution of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and self-employed individuals on the lowest premium rate; free distressed or repatriated OFWs from their obligation to resolve their unpaid premiums upon their return to the country; and remove the payment of PhilHealth contributions as a requirement for the issuance of Overseas Employment Certificates.
Other proposed changes to the premium collection scheme include fixing the income ceiling for premium contributions at P40,000 as the basis for premium rates and increasing the national government’s subsidy for indirect contributors.
Under the UHC Law, direct contributors include regular employees, self-earning professional practitioners, migrant workers, qualified dependents, and lifetime members.
Meanwhile, indirect contributors refer to individuals who do not fall under any of the said categories of direct contributors and whose premiums shall be subsidized by the national government.
“Wala po akong sinayang na pagkakataon mula noong ako’y muling mahalal. Katunayan nga po ay isa sa aking mga priority legislations ay ang pag-amyenda sa UHC, partikular sa pagpapababa ng rate ng PhilHealth premium contributions,” Ejercito said.
“Layon din po natin na bigyang kaluwagan ang ating mga kababayang overseas Filipino workers na sana’y hindi sila mapigilan sa kanilang paghahanap-buhay dahil sa kabiguang makapagbayad ng PhilHealth contribution. Sila man po ay naapektuhan din ng pandemya,” he added.
Senators Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, Bato dela Rosa, and Sonny Angara also filed similar measures.
Initially, the current premium scheme was intended to help PhilHealth fund a variety of medical services that are to be made more accessible under the UHC Law.
However, the lawmaker from San Juan City said the rates stated in the UHC Law were based on pre-pandemic information.
"Noong binalangkas natin ang UHC law, masasabi na wala namang kakaiba o extraordinaryong mga pangayayari sa usapin ng kalusugan at ekonomiya. Kaya naipanukala ang pagatataas ng premium contributions upang mas makapagbigay ng mas magandang health services ang ating pamahalaan," Ejercito said. (OSJVE)
