House OKs bill reducing PhilHealth premium rate to 3.5% on final reading

The House of Representatives on Monday approved a bill reducing the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) premium contribution rate to 3.5% from 5% on third and final reading.

House Bill 11357 or An Act Strengthening the Philippine Healthcare System to Achieve Efficiency and Equity, and to Improve Public Health Emergency Preparedness garnered 191 yes votes, three no votes and zero abstentions.

“This bill will strengthen the Philippine healthcare system to improve efficiency and equity, and to build resilience moving forward, learning from experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the committee report on the measure read.

A priority measure of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council, the bill amends Republic Act No. 11223 or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.

Under the measure, the 3.5% PhilHealth premium contribution rates by its members will only be adjusted based on actuarial studies that will be evaluated by a non-government, impartial, and credible independent body.

Likewise, the said adjustment of premium contribution will be subject to the approval of Congress when it deliberates on the proposed national budget.

In addition, the bill provides that Overseas Filipino Workers will not be required to pay their PhilHealth contribution since 50% of it will be shouldered by their employer while the other 50% will be paid by the Philippine government.

The bill also states that PhilHealth’s administrative expenses, which include salaries for its personnel, should only account for 7.5% of its total expenditure for its members’ benefits.

Under the current law, PhilHealth’s administrative expense accounts for 7.5% of its total collected PhilHealth premium contribution.

The bill also allows component cities and municipalities to set up a Special Health Fund under the guidance of the Department of Health, the Department of Budget and Management and UHC Coordinating Council (UHC-CC).

The UHC-CC will be composed of various relevant government agencies and co-chaired by the Secretary of Health and Secretary of the Interior and Local Government.

The Senate already approved its version of the measure under Senate Bill 2620 on third and final reading last August 2024.

Added burden

But for House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela party-list Representative Arlene Brosas, who was one of the three who voted against the measure, the bill will only place an unnecessary burden on the OFWs since the bill did not remove OFWs as direct contributors to PhilHealth.

“The removal of OFWs as direct contributors lessens their burden to mandatorily pay for PhilHealth premiums. Migrant workers do not really avail of PhilHealth benefits during their stint abroad, as they may have their own health care provisions in the country they are working in,” Brosas said in explaining her no vote.

“Instead, mandatory payment premium contributions is an added monetary burden to them when most migrant workers have been forced to work abroad to provide for their families because of lack of viable job options in the Philippines,” she added. — BM, GMA Integrated News