JV Ejercito pushes for amendments to UHC law, targeting PhilHealth premium rate reform
March 20, 2024
Senate
Deputy Majority Leader Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito is pushing for amendments to
the Universal Healthcare Act, which includes revising the premium rates for
direct contributors of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
On
Tuesday, March 19, Ejercito sponsored Senate Bill No. 2620 under Committee
Report No. 245. This bill consolidates proposals from seven bills authored by
Ejercito, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, Senate Majority Leader
Joel Villanueva, and Senators Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, Ronald Dela Rosa, Sonny
Angara, Bong Revilla, Christopher Go, and Raffy Tulfo.
“There
are times when laws must adapt to changing circumstances. The Universal Health
Care Act is a perfect example. That law was passed before COVID made its mark
in Wuhan’s wet markets,” Ejercito said in his speech.
According
to Ejercito’s proposal, rates would be adjusted “in due consideration of
changed circumstances” such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The
UHC law would have imposed the full 5% premium as early as this year. But it
can be recalled that this was the rate increase which President Ferdinand
“Bongbong” Marcos Jr. suspended earlier.
“Hindi
makatarungan na tataasan ang rates kung kailan wala pang pera ang mga tao,” the
lawmaker from San Juan emphasized.
Key
reforms in this measure allow PhilHealth to adjust income thresholds to meet
funding needs for health benefit packages and propose tailored provisions for
Overseas Filipino Workers.
“These
will take into consideration their unique circumstances. We are proposing that
the premium contributions of OFWs will be based on the income floor. 50% of OFW
contributions will be subsidized through the national budget.”
Moreover,
Ejercito believes that the unpaid contributions of distressed migrant workers
should not be collected upon their return to the country, nor should failure to
pay serve as a basis for denying them an overseas employment certificate.
Ejercito
added that it will enable the President to suspend the increase in premium
contribution rates if there is a state of national emergency, a public health
emergency, or a state of calamity.
“The
UHC Act remains our best hope to bring quality health care to every Filipino.
Let us stay on the right path. And let us smoothen the road bumps by swiftly
passing this measure,” he said.