Bipartisan unity seen vs PhilHealth, SSS premium increases
The Senate leadership is expecting bipartisan support for a bill deferring any additional increase in monthly contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Social Security System (SSS) during the pandemic.
“I’m looking at passing this hopefully before Valentine’s Day to give our people the welcome respite they need during this financially difficult period in their lives,” said Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, one of the authors of Senate Bill No. 1968.
The Senate bill seeks to amend Republic Act No. 11223, or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, to avert impending increases in members’ contributions to PhilHealth and SSS amid the persisting coronavirus crisis.
In the House of Representatives, the Makabayan bloc on Wednesday also filed House Bill No. 8311 and House Bill No. 8310, seeking to remove the automatic increases in PhilHealth and SSS as mandated by laws passed before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zubiri said in a statement that senators can finish debate and amendments within two to three weeks once the bill comes out of the assigned committee.
“I believe this will have bipartisan support as no one would want to give an additional burden to our people during this extremely difficult time of the pandemic were jobs have been either scarce or lost all together,” he said.
Zubiri clarified that the bill was seeking a deferment of PhilHealth’s increased collections “only during times of calamity and pandemic.”
The scheduled increase will resume “once the situation normalizes and the economy goes back on track so the agency can resume providing a no-balance billing policy of the Universal Health Care Law which entails are large amount of financial reserves to implement.”
“But as of now, let’s put our people’s interest front and center as we await the entry of the badly needed vaccines that can help protect our people from covid and get our economy back to normal,” Zubiri said.
He and Senators Grace Poe and Joel Villanueva filed the bill after decrying the planned increase in members’ contributions, calling it “uncalled for” as PhilHealth had been beset with allegations of fund mismanagement.
In the House, the Makabayan bloc–composed of lawmakers from party-list groups Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Alliance of Concerned Teachers and Kabataan—also sought to amend Republic Act 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018, “which mandates the automatic increase of contribution rates.”
The lawmakers said that “the Filipino people will be burdened with higher contribution rates even under the current Philippine situation and even without any substantial improvement in SSS’s collection rate efficiency and other reforms.”
The SSS on Tuesday said it was ready to defer the scheduled increase once a law is passed or if President Duterte issues an order.
Mr. Duterte earlier ordered PhilHealth to defer the implementation of its premium hike.
