Health insurance eyed for public school teachers

FILE PHOTO: Teacher Ann Mariel Foronda guides a kindergarten pupil in writing his name at Pinyahan Elementary School in Quezon City during the resumption of full in-person classes for public schools on November 2, 2022. INQUIRER/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Public school teachers may soon be provided medical insurance as the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is studying the creation of a health lifeline for employees of the Department of Education (DepEd).

“We are looking for a solution in putting together a program that allows us to be able to provide medical insurance over and above PhilHealth,” GSIS president Jose Arnulfo Veloso said on Monday.

“When our teachers’ families get sick, all they have to do is pray for their recovery and they won’t have to worry about how to get out of the hospital and pay their debt,” he added.

For now, the GSIS, in partnership with DepEd, will seek to improve its customer service to teachers, which account for more than 51 percent of its clients.

According to DepEd, a total of 1,025,823 “authorized personnel” are working under the agency, and of this number, 888,888 are teachers.

Citing the department’s dialogue during school visits, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said the GSIS contribution was among the top concerns of the teachers.

“GSIS complaints only get dislodged at rank one when discussions about performance-based bonus—which has been delayed for two or three years—come out,” she said.

Coinciding with the ongoing celebration of National Teachers’ Month, DepEd and the GSIS have entered into an agreement to improve the services provided to teachers, particularly by providing an exclusive lane for them in the GSIS offices.

Veloso said they would also assign “account officers” who will visit schools and DepEd offices to listen to the concerns of the teachers and employees and add an option in their hotline dedicated to teacher and DepEd personnel inquiries.

Under the memorandum of agreement, which would take effect “immediately,” the GSIS will also hold an annual dialogue between its branches and the counterpart DepEd regional offices and schools division to address concerns related to the insurance of teachers.

“Financial security, among many others, is a source of anxiety for our teachers and our employees. And today, we take steps to unburden employees from emotional distress,” Duterte said. INQ