SEN. Joseph Victor Ejercito yesterday said the Senate is eyeing a lower monthly contribution of three percent, from the current five percent, for members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Ejercito said the three percent contribution was proposed in plenary by Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III, who noted the state insurer’s surplus funds of more than P400 billion.
The Universal Health Care Act states that the PhilHealth can lower the monthly contributions of its members when it has excess funds.
The agency can likewise use the extra funds to fund health-related programs of the government and increase its health benefit packages.
Ejercito said that while he is proposing a monthly contribution of four percent, he has requested the PhilHealth and the Department of Finance (DOF) to study Pimentel’s proposal.
“Ang proposal ko ibaba from five percent to four percent. Pero kung kakayanin naman talaga, hinihintay ko lang ‘yung computation nila kasi mahirap pakialaman kasi actuarial computation ‘yun, masalimuot ‘yung actuarial projection… So, malamang ang Senado ay going towards supporting ‘yung three percent, pero tignan muna natin (kung) hanggang saan kaya. Tutal may bicam pa naman hanggang pag uusapan kung ano ang magiging rate natin (My proposal is to lower it from five percent to four percent. But if they can really lower it further… I am still waiting for their actuarial projection because I don’t want to interfere with the actuarial computation as it is very complicated… So, there’s a big chance that the Senate is going towards supporting the three percent [as proposed by Sen. Pimentel] but let us just wait up to what percentage can be granted by PhilHealth. Anyway, that will be tackled in the bicameral conference committee where we will finally decide on what will be the rate),” Ejercito said.
Ejercito is pushing for amendments to the UHC Act, including revising the premium rate for direct PhilHealth contributors.
Under his proposal, Ejercito said rates should be adjusted “in due consideration of changed circumstances,” such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
PhilHealth increased member contribution rates last February, from four percent to five percent.
The UHC law mandates the increase in PhilHealth contribution rates to increments of 0.5 percent every year, starting 2021, until it reaches 5 percent.
Last month, the Department of Finance transferred P89.9 billion in excess PhilHealth funds to the National Treasury to fund unprogrammed appropriations in the 2024 national budget.
The DOF said the transfer of excess funds of Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) is allowed under a provision of the General Appropriations Act of 2024.
The DOF said it transferred P20 billion to the national government to pay the overdue arrears due to healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SUSPEND HIKE
Ejercito appealed to President Marcos Jr. to again order the suspension of the hike in members’ premium contribution while Congress has yet to approve proposed amendments to the UHC law.
“Maganda nga sana na pansamantalang ma-suspend. Pero sabi nga ni Secretary Recto na the power to adjust the rate ay nasa Kongreso talaga kaya ito nga ang tinatrabaho natin.
Unahin muna natin ang mga members’ benefits, second, ‘yung contributions ay mas maganda bago natin sabihin na meron tayong excess funds (It is if is the increase can be temporarily suspended. Finance Secretary Ralph Recto has said that the power to adjust the rates is up to Congress, that’s why we are working on it right now. For me, let us prioritize members’ benefits, second, let’s fix the contribution rates before we declare that we have excess funds),” he said.
Marcos last year ordered PhilHealth to suspend the increase of its premium rates and income ceiling “in light of prevailing socioeconomic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Ejercito said suspending the hike in monthly premiums will give PhilHealth members the chance to fully recover from their financial difficulties caused, among others, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kasi nasa recovery pa naman tayong lahat para magaan din (Because we are still in the recovery period and lowering the rate will give us some relief),” he added.
Discussions on proposed amendments to the UHC are now in the period of amendments in the Senate.
2025 BUDGET
Ejercito said the Senate will be stricter in scrutinizing the proposed 2025 national budget to make sure that PhilHealth funds will be used only for health-related programs.
“Ang nangyari kasi sa bicam, merong provision na ang excess funds ng GOCCs, ‘yan ay maaaring kunin… actually sa totoo lang, I was not aware of that because I am not part of the bicam. So, yan ang kailangan natin bantayan ngayong budget season (What happened was that members of the bicam added the provision that excess GOCC funds can be reverted to the national government. I was not aware of that because I was not part of the bicam. So, we need to be strict with that during this budget season),” he said.
