Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 5) — State insurer PhilHealth on Wednesday said it will collect higher contributions from its members beginning June, ending a one-and-a-half year reprieve it granted earlier amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note: This version corrects the monthly premium for those earning at least P80,000 to P3,200 from P4,800 mentioned in the story published on May 5, 2022.
The hike in contributions meant members will see a larger cut in their payroll, while employers will have to pitch in too.
From the 3% contribution rate before the hike, it will increase to 4% of a member’s salary, with the employer shouldering half of it. A worker earning P10,000 a month, for instance, will have to shell out P200 and the employer, another P200 for a total of P400.
The monthly premium contribution could go as high as P3,200 for those earning P80,000 per month.
PhilHealth officials said the increase was mandated by the Universal Healthcare Act that aims to cover even the poorest Filipinos via subsidies, a portion of the Health department’s budget, and collections from the tax on cigarettes and alcohol.
“Upon clarification, we now have to go back to implementing the law and impose the adjustment of 2022 premiums as stated in the law. So yes, nasa law po ‘yun. It’s specific there talaga (Yes, it’s stated in the law. There is a specific provision on that),” Shirley Domingo, PhilHealth vice president for corporate affairs, told reporters in a virtual briefing on Wednesday.
The law provides an annual half-a-percentage point hike in contributions. But last year, Malacañang and Congress had asked the agency to temporarily shelve its implementation as the country tried to contain a raging pandemic back then and when vaccines were not yet available.
The agency’s chief had agreed in January 2021 to defer the hikes until Congress writes amendments to the Universal Healthcare Act.
As the bills amending that legislation did not progress, PhilHealth announced the hike just a week before the presidential elections and with a new Congress set to take over by July.
PhilHealth said the 4% is retroactive, in such that it should have been collected from January this year.
Since the hike was announced on Wednesday and will be rolled out only in June, the agency urged employers and members to settle the differential by December 31.
PhilHealth’s existing issues in corruption
Criticisms from Congress and other quarters were hurled against PhilHealth with allegations ranging from corruption, fund misuse and failure to pay private hospitals COVID-19 claims on time.
PhilHealth officials clarified the agency has settled about P14 billion in COVID-19 claims, adding that dialogues with private health institutions continue.
“We have been trying to implement, we have been cooperating with different agencies and lobbying, doing some work to try to defer muna the implementation. We have been waiting for the results of the bills,” Domingo said.
“There might still be some clarification or directives from other agencies, but as of now, we are implementing,” she added.
