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PRESIDENT Duterte has ordered the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to make voluntary the payment of premiums by Filipinos working overseas amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Monday.
He said the President does not want to further burden the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) especially now that most of them have lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 crisis.
PhilHealth president and CEO Ricardo Morales, in a statement, said the agency needs to increase premium rates for OFWs because it is mandated by the Universal Health Care Act and is necessary for the program’s implementation.
“The purpose of the Universal Health Care Act, as in other societies with the same program, is to provide affordable and adequate health care to all Filipinos. Such a program requires funding collected through premium contributions,” said Morales.
“As an agency of government, sensitive to the welfare and well-being of all Filipinos, PhilHealth commits to continue exploring means to soften and alleviate the impact of premium rate increase, but it cannot change the law,” he added.
Morales’ statement comes amid the public uproar caused by its scheduled increase in premium contributions of overseas Filipinos beginning this year as provided by Circular No. 2020-0014. The increased premium rates will be from 2.75% to 3%, which is in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 11223.
Roque said the increase in premium is only 0.5 percent and not 3 percent as some militant groups claimed.
An online petition, under change.org, has been calling for the removal of the 3 percent mandatory payment of PhilHealth premium by OFWs. The petition has at least 402,500 signatories as of 5:20 p.m. of Monday.
Roque also said that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has suspended a provision in the implementing rules and regulations of the Universal Health Care law that increases PhilHealth contributions “while we have a problem on COVID-19.”
Morales said PhilHealth recognizes that everyone’s capability to pay is being hampered by the pandemic. This is why, he said, PhilHealth has provided a “flexible payment scheme which will allow OFWs — and all other directly paying self-employed members — to pay their contributions within the year.”
In a TV interview, he also said PhilHealth is considering making the payment temporarily optional, also due to the prevailing crisis. This, he said, is despite a moratorium in the payment of premiums, as provided under the “Bayanihan We Heal As One Law,” until May 31.
“We will not insist on that moratorium because those who are willing and able to pay may not pay too. Right now, we are considering to declare that the payment premium will be optional,” said Morales.
Morales insisted that OFWs have use for their PhilHealth coverage, especially their dependents. Last year alone, he noted OFWs claimed P 1.7 billion in benefits with 69 percent of claims attributed to their dependents in the country, while 31 percent were claimed by overseas Filipinos.
This, Morales said, is despite their collection from OFWs amounting to only P1.02 billion.
Amid backlash from OFWs, the Blas Ople Policy Center asked Congress to intervene and stop the scheduled increase in premium contributions.
“We urge the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives to pass a joint resolution indefinitely suspending the hike in PhilHealth premium contributions of overseas Filipinos and migrant workers,” said BOPC president Susan Ople.
“A joint resolution passed by the Senate and HOR would have the force of law. It will greatly ease the anxiety of our workers overseas, many of who already face a quite uncertain future,” she added.
Ople said the increase causes great anxiety among OFWs who are already dealing with the effects of the pandemic.
Aside from stopping the increase, she also called on lawmakers to consider reverting the OFW premium rate to the fixed rate of P2,400 a year.
“To peg the premium based on the salary of an OFW is unfair because he or she will be shouldering the entire amount. This will eat up a huge chunk of dollar remittances meant for their family’s basic needs,” Ople said.
Migrante International said the increase “overburdens OFWs who are already troubled by retrenchments and loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic and recession.”
It also said PhilHealth coverage will mean nothing to OFWs as they are covered by insurance and healthcare programs in their host countries.
And to top it all off, Migrante said the 3 percent premium rate for 2020 is only the tip of the iceberg as the amount of contributions is still set to increase annually until it reaches 5 percent in 2024.
