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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PhilHealth should shoulder testing cost of workers -- Villanueva

PhilHealth should shoulder testing cost of workers -- Villanueva

Published Aug 17, 2020 07:25 pm

Sen. Joel Villanueva said the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) should shoulder the testing cost of workers since they are contributing to the State health insurer’s funds.

Sen. Joel Villanueva (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor issued the statement as the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued a memorandum requiring the frontline workers to undergo regular and monthly testing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces.

"Hindi po tayo dapat mag-alinlangan na isailalim sa test ang ating mga empleyado. I-charge po natin ang gastos sa PhilHealth dahil obligasyon nila sa kanilang mga miyembro na tugunan ang pangangailangan, lalo na ngayong panahon ng pandemya (We should not hesitate to test our employees. We should charge the cost to PhilHealth because its their obligation to respond to their members' needs, especially in this time of pandemic)” Villanueva said in a statement.

He said employers should be assisted to comply to ensure the effectiveness of the directive as he noted that some employers fear that the cost of testing could further weaken their businesses that were already impaled by the imposition of lockdowns.

He appealed to the PhilHealth to come up with a program that will speed up the process of testing or reimbursements to companies who will send their employees for COVID-19 testing. 

"The hesitation of employers to test their workers stems from the fact that there is a lot of uncertainty in PhilHealth’s ability to reimburse testing expenses,” the lawmaker said, citing the recent investigations concerning the PhilHealth's reimbursement program.

Economic managers recently announced that the country has officially fallen into a recession as the 16.5 percent negative growth in gross domestic product for the second quarter of the year marked the biggest reduction since 1981. 

Unemployment soared to an estimated 17.7 percent, accounting to about 7.3 million displaced workers, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.

As of Aug. 10, the DoLE said it received notices of permanent closure from 766 businesses, while 6,993 establishments implemented retrenchments which directly affected 143,200 workers.

Villanueva maintained that a way to reduce the risk of infections in workplaces is to conduct regular testing.

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