Personal Finance: Up to P2,400 in Philhealth premiums are tax-deductible

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. pointed out on Sunday that the country’s income tax law allows filers of individual income tax returns to claim health and hospitalization insurance premiums up to P2,400 per family in a year as deduction.   “We expect most of our 4.22 million self-employed members to be shielded by a tax allowance,” said Dr. Eduardo Banzon, Philhealth president and chief executive officer, in a news release.   But for Philhealth members whose premiums are higher than P2,400 in a year, the limit of their tax deduction claim is P2,400.   Banzon also disclosed that self-employed Philhealth members can avail of discounts—reducing the amount of their annual premiums by 50 percent from P2,400 to P1,200.   “Effective July 1, 2012, self-employed individuals contributing on their own would pay the minimum annual premium of P2,400. However, for those who pay by the end of June, their discounted premium for the whole of 2012 would be fixed at only P1,200,” he said.   Banzon added that individually contributing members can avail of a discounted premium pegged at P1,200 annually, or P2,400 for the entire 24-months of 2012 to 2014 when they sign a policy contract by the end of June and commit to pay in lump for two consecutive years.   The national health insurance agency also revealed that 10.2 million poor families are Philhealth members. Some 5.2 million are beneficiaries of the national government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (PPP) conditional cash transfers program. The government subsidizes or pays for their premiums.   Another five million disadvantaged households not covered by the PPP are Philhealth members but local government units subsidize their premiums, according to the agency. — ELR, GMA News