The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Monday has responded to the increase in mandatory premium contributions for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) – a measure which was met by strong opposition from migrant workers.
In a statement, the state insurer has said that OFWs had claimed PhilHealth benefits nearly double than their contributions in 2019.
“Last year, with a collection from OFWs amounting to P 1.02 Billion (comprising 0.7% of premiums from total collections), OFWs claimed P 1.7 Billion in benefits with 69% of claims attributed to their dependents in the country while 31% was claimed by overseas OFWs,” the statement read.
It stressed that under the Universal Health Care Act, benefit coverage is planned to be increased and expanded to a greater number of Filipinos.
PhilHealth also reiterated that adequate funding would support the “ambitious health goals” of the UHC Act.
It added that they continue to look for ways to alleviate the impact of the contribution hike but stressed that they “cannot change the law”.
“As an agency of government… PhilHealth commits to continue exploring means to soften and alleviate the impact of premium rate increase, but it cannot change the law,” PhilHealth said.
The statement came following President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to suspend the collection of higher premiums from OFWs.