A lawmaker has filed a bill seeking to reform the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) through the “PhilHealth Reform Act of 2020” (HB 7578).
Under the proposed bill of Albay Representative Joey Salceda, there will be a revamp in the embattled organization to ensure that the Universal Healthcare Law will be funded and get rid of corruption activities.
Salceda also pushes for the exemption of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to pay Philhealth premiums.
He said they are not earning in the Philippines and there is no direct benefit from the agency.
The lawmaker also wants to cut reduce the contribution of low-income earners from Php250 to Php100 monthly. They can save of up to Php4,800 in a year.
“Itutugma natin ang premium contribution sa kita ng kasapi at aalisin natin ang income ceiling system. Sa ngayon habang tumataas ang sahod sa ‘income ceiling’ lumiliit naman ang binabayaran mo. Hindi ito progresibo,” Salceda said.
The bill also proposes to assign the Finance Secretary as the chairman of the board of Philhealth rather than the Health Secretary.
Last month, PhilHealth said the circular which imposes a 3 percent increase in contributions ranging from Php10,000 to Php60,000 will still take effect when the coronavirus pandemic is over.
PhilHealth official Antonio Danao told the House of Representatives that President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to suspend the hike in premiums will only last during the pandemic period.
“Yung voluntary na in-announce ng Presidente ay during the pandemic period lang. Ngayon after the pandemic, dahil ang batas ay hindi pa na-amyendahan at yung PhilHealth circular na aming nailabas ay hindi pa na-amemd, mag take effect ang circular,” Danao added.
Under the controversial circular which classified overseas Filipinos as direct contributors under the Universal Healthcare Law and therefore, payment and remittance of premium contributions is mandatory.
An OFW who has an income of Php10,000 to Php60,000 will have a hike in premium of 2.75 percent.
The agency claims that only 320,000 OFWS are actively contributing to PhilHealth right now out of more than 3 million registered members. They have also collected Php1.02 billion from the 320,000 OFW contributors both here and abroad.
PhilHealth is now under fire as allegations of billions of corruption hound the agency.
