Senate bill providing COVID-19 benefits to health workers OK’d on 3rd reading

The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading the bill granting COVID-19 benefits and allowances to healthcare workers during the state of public health emergency. 

Voting 23-0-0, the chamber passed Senate Bill 2421 or the proposed COVID-19 Benefits and Allowances for Health Workers Act, which covers health workers both in the public and private facilities, regardless of their employment status.

The measure provides COVID-19 compensation for sickness and death to non-medical workers and outsourced personnel hired under institutional or individual contract service or job order basis and assigned in health facilities that are involved in COVID-19 response.

Under Section 5 of the said bill, COVID-19 Risk Allowance will be provided for every month served, regardless of quarantine status:

• Those deployed in low risk areas: P3,000;
• medium risk areas: P6,000
• high risk areas: P9,000

This will be given on top of the benefits for health workers under Republic Act 7305 or the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers and other forms of hazard pay.

The allowance shall be released in full if a health worker physically reports for at least 96 hours in a month, otherwise the benefit will be prorated.

The benefits under the bill shall be released on a monthly basis.

In case of death, a benefit of P1 million shall be provided to their heirs.

In case of sickness for a severe or critical case, P100,000 shall be provided to the health workers while P15,000 shall be given to those who contracted mild or moderate case of COVID-19.

These compensations shall be given not later than three months after the date of confinement or death and upon submission of complete and compliant documents.

The bill also provides for the regular COVID-19 testing of health workers by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. The frequency will be determined by the Department of Health.

The measure also gives full PhilHealth coverage for direct healthcare costs of hospitalized workers due to COVID-19.

If enacted, the law will have a retroactive application from July 1, 2021 and this will take effect during the state of national public health emergency as declared by the president. — RSJ, GMA News