OFW contributions to PhilHealth should be voluntary, House bill says

ML party-list Representative Leila De Lima and two other lawmakers have filed a bill seeking to exempt overseas Filipino workers from mandatory contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). 

House Bill 6355 seeks to amend Republic Act 11223, or the Universal Health Care Act, by removing migrant workers from the list of director contributors and making their contributions to the state health insurer only voluntary. 

“Given their indispensable role in national development, OFWs deserve relief from redundant and excessive statutory burdens. Making PhilHealth contributions voluntary is therefore not only a matter of fairness but also of sound public policy and social justice,” said De Lima, Dinagat Islands Lone District Representative Arlene Bag-ao, and Albay 1st District Representative Cielo Krisel Lagman in a statement. 

“Although PhilHealth coverage extends to their dependents, the same protection can be achieved through voluntary and flexible contribution schemes without imposing undue financial strain on our overseas worker,” they added. 

Section 4(f) of the Universal Health Care Act defines direct contributors as “those who have the capacity to pay premiums, are gainfully employed and are bound by an employer-employee relationship, or are self-earning, professional practitioners, migrant workers, including their qualified dependents, and lifetime members.”

The lawmakers said that mandatory contributions to PhilHealth are an additional burden to the OFWs who already maintain health insurance coverage abroad. 

Under Section 10 of the UHC Act, PhilHealth premiums have steadily climbed from 2.75% of monthly basic salary in 2019 to 5% in 2025.

“Karamihan po sa ating mga OFWs, land-based. Kung magkakasakit man sila ay wala sila sa ating bansa. Wala naman po na mga accredited na ospital [doon] na tatanggap ng PhilHealth…Ibig sabihin, nagko-contribute sila nang hindi naman nila pinakikinabangan yung benefits ng kanilang contribution,” said Lagman. 

(Most of our OFWs are land-based. If they become sick, they are not in our country. There are no accredited hospitals [there] that will accept PhilHealth... This means they are contributing without benefiting from their contributions.) — VBL, GMA Integrated News