Higher PhilHealth Premiums Next Month
An official of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. said the government-run institution is “duty-bound” to collect a four-percent premium as mandated under the Universal Health Care Law.
Starting June, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will be collecting higher premium contributions from all members after the Senate failed to pass a law deferring the mandated increases.
Rex Paul Recoter, PhilHealth senior manager for formal sector-member management group, said the government-run institution is “duty-bound” to collect a four-percent premium as mandated under the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law.
“As of now we are collecting three percent, but since there is no deferment or suspension of the increase – no law came out – PhilHealth is now obliged under UHC Act to collect the four percent for the year 2022,” Recoter said at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, May 4.
Recoter said the adjusted premium rate of four percent employer and self-paying members using the Electronic Premium Remittance System (EPRS) and the PhilHealth Member Portal (PMP) shall take effect next month.
Those who paid their premium for 2022 in advance will pay only the differential of one percent and may do so until December without interest, he said.
The PhilHealth will issue billing statements for non EPRC users and those who have not registered with the PMP. Payment shall be made at the nearest PhilHealth local insurance office.
With the premium hike, Recoter said PhilHealth hopes to collect a total of P189 billion from direct contributors as well as indirect contributors whose payments are subsidized by the government.
He said the premium hike will be shared between employers and workers such as kasambahay who are earning less than P10,000 a month. “They will pay 50-50,” he pointed out.
Shirley Domingo, PhilHealth vice president for corporate affairs, said they have already met with stakeholders, including labor and employers’ groups, concerning the premium hike.
“We are now going back to implementing this four percent as specified under the law. But we are still waiting if there will be clarifications,” Domingo said, noting that PhilHealth has been cooperating with concerned government agencies.
