Ejercito hopes bill changing PhilHealth premium hike schedule will be certified as urgent

Senator JV Ejercito on Tuesday expressed hope that his bill, which seeks to change the schedule of the increase in premium contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), be certified by Malacañang as urgent due to the current economic situation. 

At the opening of the 19th Congress last July, Ejercito filed Senate Bill 160, which seeks to amend Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act. 

"I'll ask the [Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council] to make it a priority bill because it will concern everybody, OFWs especially. We have to make adjustments so that it will not be a burden anymore for them, also the local and government employees," Ejercito, sponsor of the UHC Law, said in an ANC interview.

"I'm hoping that this will be certified as urgent so we can pass it in less than a year," he added.

Ejercito said under the usual legislative process, it would take a year or a year and a half before a bill could be passed. 

A certification from the President allows Congress to approve the measure on second and third reading on the same day. 

Under the UHC Law, the increase in direct contributors' premium should reach 5% by 2024.

If one earns P10,000 monthly, his or her P400 contribution will increase to P450. The contribution is divided between the employer and the employee. 

Under Ejercito's bill, the premium rates will be as follows: 

• 2022: 3% (Income ceiling: P40,000)
• 2023: 3.5% (Income ceiling: P40,000)
• 2024: 4% (Income ceiling: P40,000)
• 2025: 4.5% (Income ceiling: P45,000)
• 2026: 5% (Income ceiling: P50,000)

Ejercito also proposed that the premium contributions of migrant workers and self-employed individuals shall be based on the income floor and that the unpaid premium contributions of distressed or repatriated migrant workers shall not be collected upon their arrival in the country. 

Failure to pay PhilHealth contributions shall not be a ground for non-issuance of overseas employment certificate of a migrant worker.

"That's my amendment so that we can give the chance for [the] economy and for everybody to recover from the pandemic," Ejercito said.

On January 2, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. ordered PhilHealth to suspend the increase in the premium rate and income ceiling for the calendar year 2023, citing prevailing socioeconomic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to provide financial relief to the people. —VBL, GMA Integrated News