Bill seeking to amend Universal Health Care Act gets OK on final reading

A healthcare worker supervising an initial assessment for the annual medical physical exam. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking to amend the Universal Health Care Act hurdled the chamber’s third and final reading on Tuesday.

With 19 affirmative, zero negative, and zero abstentions the Senate approved Senate Bill No. 2620 during the chamber’s plenary session.

Sen. JV Ejercito, sponsor of the bill, said the passage of the bill proves that the upper chamber is doing its mandate to ensure the well-being of Filipinos, especially those still recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sa pagpasa po ng panukalang ito, malapit na pong maging ganap na batas ang ipinangako natin na mas mababang Philhealth premium contribution,” said Ejercito.

(With the passage of this measure, our promised lower Philhealth premium contribution will soon become a full law.)

According to him, the passage of the bill is good proof of how united legislators are in coming up with laws that will be “appreciated by the people, especially those who depend on the National Health Insurance Program.”

“Natutuwa po ako na dahil sa panukalang batas natin na ito, mas mapapabuti ang sitwasyon ng bawat miyembro ng PhilHealth. Ito po ay maituturing na hakbang pasulong patungo sa pagliit ng out-of-pocket expenses ng bawat pasyente at papalapit sa ating pangarap na zero balance billing para sa lahat,” he said.

(I am happy that because of this bill of ours, the situation of each member of PhilHealth will be better. This can be considered a step forward towards reducing the out-of-pocket expenses of each patient and getting closer to our dream of zero balance billing for everyone.)

Ejercito said the following are some salient points of the measure:

• Inclusion of dental services as part of the essential health benefit package
• Periodic review and adjustment of benefit packages not later than 3 years from the effectivity and every 3 years thereafter

Under the bill, below is the proposed new schedule of premium contributions:

• 2024: premium rate of 5 percent with an income floor of P10,000 and income ceiling of P100,000
• 2025: premium rate of 3.25 percent with an income floor of P10,000 and income ceiling of P100,000
• 2026: premium rate of 3.50 percent with an income floor of P10,000 and income ceiling of P100,000
• 2027: premium rate of 3.75 percent with an income floor of P10,000 and income ceiling of P100,000
• 2028: premium rate of 4 percent with an income floor of P10,000 and income ceiling of P100,000

The Universal Health Care Act was signed in 2019 by then-President Rodrigo Duterte. Its full implementation is expected to take 10 years.