Hontiveros bill to give workers mandatory insurance during health emergencies

MANILA, Philippines —  Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a bill that aims to provide workers in the public and private sectors with mandatory life and additional health insurance for their protection during public health emergencies similar to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Senate Bill 1441, or the “Balik Trabahong Ligtas Act,” aims to provide health coverage under the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to all workers, including contractual, contract of service, probationary, and job order employees, who are compelled to report to work outside of their homes during a health emergency.

“Workers, especially the working poor, are disproportionately affected by this pandemic,” Hontiveros said in a statement on Thursday. The senator filed the bill on April 27.

“It is important that we set these safeguards in place as we transition out of a full lockdown into the ‘new normal,’ and as we strive to balance the requirements of public health and the needs of the economy and the labor force,” she added.

Her bill comes after the government said it would allow employees in qualified industries like agriculture, retail, telecommunications, and media in areas under the general community quarantine (GCQ) to return to work beginning May 1.

“This bill aims to protect workers who, by going to work every day, render themselves vulnerable to infectious diseases and other hazards, and put their families and loved ones at risk,” Hontiveros said.

“Nobody must be forced to choose between dying from an infectious disease or dying from hunger,” she added.

She explained that under the bill, workers who will fall ill due to an “infectious disease subject of the declaration of public health emergency” would be entitled to full payment of medical bills.

The insurance coverage would also provide a minimum of P1 million benefit to the worker’s designated beneficiary in the event that the said worker succumbs to the infectious disease.

‘Flexible sick leave’

Hontiveros said that the bill would also grant a “flexible sick leave” to workers that could be availed if they contract the infectious disease during the health emergency.

If an employee already used up their sick leave, they could still avail of the “flexible sick leave” and it would not be deducted from their existing 15-day statutory sick leave credits, she further noted.

The senator added that for purposes of claiming the above benefits, workers who will get infected “are presumed to have been infected in the course of his or her work for the employer.”

The proposed measure would mandate employers to shoulder the premiums for the mandatory PhilHealth coverage of workers. For frontline health workers, premiums would be paid for by the government.

Hontiveros said that micro and small enterprises would be allowed to apply for reduced premium rates.

Under the bill, employers who will require their workers to work outside of their homes must provide personal protective equipment (PPE), based on the “nature of the job, and the level of exposure to risks,” she added.

To date, Philippine health officials have so far confirmed 8,212 cases of COVID-19 in the country.

Of the number, 1,023 have recovered while 558 have died.

The entire Luzon is currently under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until April 30 in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.

President Rodrigo Duterte extended the ECQ in Metro Manila and other “high-risk” areas until May 15 while a general community quarantine will be imposed on low-risk provinces beginning May 1.

/MUF