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Duterte urged to issue executive order on moratorium of OFW PhilHealth premium payments
By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News House Ways and Means committee chair Joey Salceda urged Monday President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an executive order placing premium payments of overseas Filipino workers to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) under moratorium amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
In an aide memoire to the House leadership, Salceda gave several suggestions on how to alleviate the concerns of Filipino migrant workers on the PhilHealth premiums after the state health insurer issued a circular increasing the premium payments of OFWs whose monthly income ranged from P10,000 to P60,000 to 3%.
Among these proposed measures is to stagger the implementation of new premium rates for OFWs, which will be complemented by a clarification executive order from the Office of the President.
The executive order should state that pursuant to Section 4(z) of the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, PhilHealth payments of migrant workers will be considered "charges required by law" and be "placed under a moratorium under any community quarantine."
"Unpaid premium contributions due from March 15 to December 31, 2020 shall not be charged interest and penalties."
Section 4(z) of the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act states that the President has the authority to "move statutory deadlines and timelines for the filing and submission of any document, the payment of taxes, fees and other charges required by law, and the grant of any benefit, in order to ease the burden on individuals under Community Quarantine."
Apart from the clarification executive order, the "Economic Relief to OFWs" provision under the proposed economic stimulus bill will also back up the staggered implementation of new premium rates for migrant workers, Salceda said.
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Pursuant to this provision, PhilHealth will charge OFWs no more than P300 per month for premium contribution in 2020, no more than P375 per month in 2021, and no more than P450 per month in 2022.
According to Salceda, OFWs are "uniquely burdened" by the COVID-19 pandemic, with about 420,000 of them losing their jobs due to the slowdown in global trade following restrictions brought about by the crisis.
Those who will retain their jobs, meanwhile, will have to prioritize essential goods and services over payment of mandatory contributions to the Philippines, making them likely to miss payment deadlines and incur penalties and charges, he added.
Salceda, then, proposed to lower premium contributions of OFWs, “in recognition of the unique health risks they take and their uniquely reduced Philhealth utilization rate – by the obvious fact that they’re not here.”
He also suggested to waive interests and surcharges on late payment of premium contributions for Philhealth, and “to treat OFWs as a special sector with preferential premiums in recognition of the social costs of the nature of their employment, their unique economic contribution and, in the most practical sense, their reduced utilization of the program.”
Earlier in the day, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte has directed PhilHealth to no longer require OFWs to pay premiums.
Payment of PhilHealth premium is no longer a requirement before OFWs can secure an overseas employment certificate, he added.—AOL, GMA News