PhilHealth moved to classify OFWs as 'direct' members -lawmaker

It was the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) that proposed to classify overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as "direct contributors" under the National Health Insurance Program, resulting in them being covered by the premium hike.

House Committee on Health chair Angelina Tan made the remark on Monday after many OFW groups protested PhilHealth's issuance of a circular increasing the premium payments of OFWs whose monthly income ranged from P10,000 to P60,000 to 3%.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview, Tan said when the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law was being deliberated in the House, the PhilHealth proposed that the categories of membership to the program be simplified into "direct" and "indirect" contributors.

"They said, we want to simplify the membership from direct to indirect lang and OFW ay napasama. So yung sa category na yun, kung ano yung pinapatupad mo sa direct, iko-cover sila," Tan said.

"But it was PhilHealth actually who pushed for it. Kasi kami nakikinig dahil sila ang nag-iimplement ng mga batas," she added.

Tan said the House of Representatives only adopted the proposal based on what the PhilHealth Law stipulates.

"Ang in-adopt namin kung ano ang nakalagay sa PhilHealth Law na dumadaan lagi ang PhilHealth sa DBM for approval ng increase kasi ang major contributor natin ay ang government doon sa employees natin at tsaka doon sa subsidy," she said.

According to the UHC Law, direct contributors will be paying premium contributors in a staggered manner starting 2019. For this year, those with monthly income ranging from P10,000 to P6,000 will be paying a premium of 3%.

PhilHealth, in issuing the circular, said the premium hike was already stated in the UHC Law. However, at least 170 OFW groups have opposed PhilHealth's move and called for a moratorium on all state’s collection during the period of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and recession.

Migrante International, for one, said instead of building more pro-people infrastructures for public health services and establishing a genuine universal health care program where medical and health services are free, the administration “is clinging on to neoliberal economic policies that extort money from the public to fill the coffers of big private entities.”

“This in itself is legalized theft that preys on our already overburdened Filipino migrants,” it said.

Tan said these concerns may have arisen because there was no sufficient information dissemination among OFWs of what was stated in the UHC Law after it was enacted.

Nevertheless, she said they would consider all the concerns of OFWs and would look into the provision in the UHC Law in question as part of Congress' oversight function.

"May oversight committee ang batas na pwedeng i-hear namin ni Senator Bong Go, upuan namin immediately what we can do kasi yun talaga ang mangyayari, kailangan ibalik sa Kongreso to address this problem," she said.

Tan said that when they hear the UHC to possibly amend it, they will make sure that OFWs themselves will be well-represented.

In a separate statement, ACT-CIS party-list Representative Eric Go Yap urged the PhilHealth to reconsider its circular, as the premium hike will only serve as a burden to OFWs amid the COVID-19 global crisis.

"Marami tayong kababayan ang lumapit sa atin upang maging tulay sa PhilHealth na huwag na sana taasan pa ang kinokolekta sa kanila ng PhilHealth. In the coming years, mas tataas pa ang kokolektahin sa kanila. Sa ganitong sitwasyon, pinakakawawa ang ating OFWs. Wala naman talagang direct benefit sa kanila itong premium na ito dahil namamalagi sila sa ibang bansa, na hindi naman abot ng coverage ng Philhealth," he said.

"Para tayong nagpataw ng dagdag buwis sa kanila. May mga mandatory health insurance premium din sa ibang bansa, huwag naman natin pahirapan ng husto ang ating mga kababayan," he added. --KBK, GMA News