PhilHealth members’ contributions to go up by 0.25-percentage point starting Jan. 2018

Members of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) must now shoulder a 0.25-percentage point increase in premium contributions starting January 2018, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Friday.

From 2.5-percent contribution rate, member contributions will now be 2.75 percent, computed based on a member’s monthly basic pay, according to PhilHealth Circular 2017-0024, signed last Oct. 11.

The increase will double the actuarial life of the PhilHealth fund to eight-and-a-half years from four-and-a-half years, Duque said at a forum in Manila.

Covered by the adjustment are members employed in the formal economy, including kasambahays, family drivers, and sea-based Overseas Filipino Workers, and all employers in the government and private sector.

According to the circular, the contributions are now computed, based on a salary floor of P10,000 and ceiling of P40,000, as follows:

• P275.00 for those making P10,000 and below per month, or P137.50 each from the member and employer

• P275.02 to P1,099.99 for those earning P10,000.01 to P39,999.99 per month, or P137.51 to P549.99 each from the member and employer

• P1,100 for those earning P40,000 and above per month, or P550 each from the member and employer

For a kasambahay or household help, the member’s contribution “shall be shouldered solely by the household employer” in line with the Domestic Workers Act, unless the member is receiving a salary of P5,000 and above in which case he or she would have to pay the proportionate share.

More than a third or P50 billion of the Department of Health’s P165-billion budget for 2018 has been allotted to fund PhilHealth, Duque noted.

PhilHealth has a national coverage of 90 to 92 percent. Most of those not covered by PhilHealth benefits are those in “geographically disadvantaged areas,” or far-flung or remote areas or barangays. — VDS, GMA News