Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 15) — The House Committee on Health approved on Wednesday a bill seeking to grant the president the power to suspend the scheduled rate hikes in the monthly contributions of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) members.
House Bill 6772, which counts House Speaker Martin Romualdez among its authors, seeks to amend the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act to allow the president, upon the PhilHealth board’s recommendation, to suspend or adjust the period of implementation for the scheduled rate hikes during national emergencies or calamities, or when public interest so requires.
During the hearing, PhilHealth senior manager Rex Paul Recoter said the proposed suspension \”should be carefully thought of\” to ensure the state-run fund could continue providing benefits to its members.
He proposed that the bill include a provision allowing for consultation with stakeholders to be held before the PhilHealth board recommends the suspension of the contribution rate hike to the president.
\”Suspending the PhilHealth increase due to public interest should be carefully thought of,\” Recoter said. \”Please consider that PhilHealth is a social health insurance program that also depends on the premium contributions of its members to sustain its programs.\”
Recoter also said the implementation of an increase of PhilHealth contribution will be \”upon the lifting of the state of national emergency or public health emergency or national calamity.\”
However, TINGOG Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, one of the bill’s authors, said holding public consultations would not be feasible since under the public health emergency, the president would be given the authority to suspend PhilHealth premium rate hikes.
\”Considering the emergency nature of the situation, I don’t think it’s feasible to have consultations at this point,” Acidre said. \”We are confident that the PhilHealth board, on their own, are capable of making such recommendations without the need for further consultation.\”
