Give PhilHealth members breathing space

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) started implementing the collection of the five-percent increase in premium contributions from its members effective this month.

The Universal Health Care (UHC) Act of 2019 calls for a three-percent increase in PhilHealth premium contribution in 2020, 3.5 percent in 2021, four percent in 2022, and 4.5 in 2023, and five percent in 2024 and 2025.

However, PhilHealth suspended the 3.5-percent rate increase in 2021 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The premium rate hike was also suspended last year due to the socio-economic challenges posed by the health crisis.

As Filipinos continue to reel from the impact of the pandemic, President Marcos has been urged to suspend the implementation of the premium rate increase this year, with no less than Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, the chairperson of the PhilHealth board, taking the lead in appealing for the suspension.

Some senators have already expressed support for Herbosa’s appeal.

Acting on the clamor, President Marcos immediately buckled down to work and is now studying the appeal for suspension.

Other than being mandated by the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act of 2019, there appears to be no urgency in implementing a premium rate increase at the moment.

PhilHealth has sufficient funds to carry out its mandate even if it would not realize its projected ₱17 billion in additional revenue from the five-percent premium rate increase.

In a press briefing last week, PhilHealth president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said that even if the implementation is frozen, the state insurer’s programs will not be affected. He cited PhilHealth’s current financial health and the assistance it gets from other agencies, including fund allocations from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

“I think PhilHealth has enough money to actually continue to give benefits. It will not be hurt by delaying the increase in premium,” Herbosa said in a media forum on Wednesday, where he bared his appeal for suspension of the premium rate increase.

Unless the implementation is suspended, PhilHealth members earning ₱10,000 monthly will now contribute ₱500 a month and those earning ₱40,000 will have to shell out ₱2,000 under the new rate scale.

With Filipinos still recovering from the devastating effects of the pandemic, the amount is already huge. This could be used instead in buying the most basic need of the family—food on the table.

Without any urgency in implementing the increase, we express hope that President Marcos will listen to the clamor and suspend anew the collection of the premium rate increase like he did last year.

Let’s give PhilHealth members a bit of breathing space at this time of economic recovery.