More oveseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could resort to work illegally and risk being undocumented if the government will push through with its plan to collect higher premiums for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), said former Labor Undersecretary Susan Ople.
The warning came after the Department of Health released the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Universal Healthcare program which will replace the fixed rate of Php2,400 with a rate which will he based from the OFWs income.
OFWs earning Php20,000 will have to pay Php6,000 starting 2020, as per the IRR. The PhilHealth premium is expected to increase to Php12,000 in 2024, still according to the IRR.
Ople said the premium collection will now be a basis for the issuance of overseas employment certificates or OEC.
“Maganda iyong layunin ng batas, pero kailangan bang singilin mo ng ganyan kalaki? Eh, ilang taon bago pa ma-reporma iyong healthcare system,” Ople told ABS-CBN News.
Ople warns that this move could force OFWs to opt for backdoor channels.
“Baka naman mamaya, mas marami na namang lumabas bilang turista at magtrabaho abroad kaysa dumaan sa legal na channels through the POEA para lang hindi sila mag-upfront ng napakaraming binabayaran,” she added.
