MANILA, PHILIPPINES — According to the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will begin collecting higher monthly contributions from its members in June.

PhilHealth said that the contribution rate for members earning P10,000 to P80,000 per month would be increased to 4%. See official Philhealth Advisory No 2022-0010 here.

“The collection systems are already set for the new rate and ceiling starting with payments and remittances for the applicable month of June 2022, while differential payments for January to May 2022 may be paid until December 2022 without interest,” PhilHealth said.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the UHC in February 2019 to ensure that all Filipinos have equitable access to high-quality, affordable healthcare.

According to the UHC Law, the premium rate will grow by 0.5 percent every year, starting from 3% in 2020 and continuing until it reaches 5%.

Premium rates should gradually climb under the Universal Health Care law, starting at 2.75% in 2019 and rising to 5% in 2024 and 2025. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered PhilHealth to suspend the tariff hike in 2021.

PhilHealth is still looking into the idea of charging members for contributions that were not received due to the suspension.

The agency assures its members that the series of processes’ contribution schedules will continue to provide enough financial protection against hospitalization costs for all Filipinos.

Whistleblowers claimed that PhilHealth executives pocketed P15 billion in funding, prompting lawmakers to examine the organization in 2020.

At a period when the Philippines had the largest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, these anomalies increased opposition to the Duterte regime. PhilHealth, on the other hand, claimed that no money was missing and that all of their transactions were complete. – WhatALife!

Source: (rappler.com)

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