Bill grants President the power to defer PhilHealth premium hike

Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo filed a measure that would grant the President the power to suspend the scheduled increases in the PhilHealth premium contribution rates.

In House Bill 8300, Quimbo proposed to amend Section 10 of the Universal Health Care Act to allow the President, in consultation with the PhilHealth board and the Secretary of Finance, to suspend the implementation of the scheduled increase in premium rates "when public interest so requires."

These instances include, but are not limited to, times of national emergencies, like in the case of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Subsequent scheduled increases in premium rates will then be adjusted to fall on the years following the lifting of the suspension.

Under the Universal Health Care law, premium contributions to PhilHealth will increase in increments of 0.5% every year, starting 2021 until it reaches the 5% limit in 2025.

Contributions of employed members will be equally shared between employees and employers, while those of self-paying members, professional practitioners and land-based migrant workers and other direct contributors with no employee-employer relationship are computed based on their monthly earnings and paid wholly by the member.

For 2021, the increase in the contribution rate would be from the current 3% of the monthly basic salary of the member to 3.5%.

The issuance of the measure came after Duterte himself ordered the deferment of the PhilHealth contribution rate hike, saying there would be no increase in contributions amid the pandemic.

Quimbo agreed that the PhilHealth premium rate hike should be suspended, considering that the Universal Health Care Law which provided for the increase was enacted in 2019 before the pandemic began.

"Hirap ang tao ngayong may pandemya. Kailangang pagaanin ng pamahalaan ang hirap ng mamamayan. Dapat ding nakalapat ang batas sa pangangailangan at kakayahan ng tao," she said.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, earlier in the day, said the House was "ready to review" the Universal Health Care Law and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, especially the provisions concerning the incremental premium rate hike for direct PhilHealth contributors.

Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor said at least 30 lawmakers across party lines would be jointly filing a resolution to defer the PhilHealth premium rate hike until 2022. — DVM, GMA News