The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has announced that it will collect higher contributions from members starting next year.
The state health insurer said that this is in line with the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law.
"The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is implementing the scheduled contribution rate and adjustment in income ceiling for 2021 to ensure sufficient funding for the health care benefits of its 110 million members as mandated by Republic Act No. 11223 or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law," the agency said in a statement on Tuesday night.
Members earning below P10,000 per month will pay P350 a month. Those earning P10,000.01 to P69,999.99 have a monthly premium between P350 to P2,449.99. Meanwhile, the contribution of those earning P70,000 or higher is fixed at P2,450.
“Contributions of employed members (including Kasambahays) shall be equally shared between employees and employers, while those of self-paying members, professional practitioners and land-based migrant workers and other direct contributors with no employee-employer relationship are computed straight based on their monthly earnings and paid wholly by the member,” said PhilHealth.
The state health insurer said that the “law emphasized the importance of members' social health insurance contributions to provide the necessary funding for various reforms under the UHC that are now being availed of by Filipinos.”
“PhilHealth fully recognizes the current pandemic situation that is taking its toll on many businesses and livelihood of many Filipinos. However, it is bound to implement the UHC Law which has been the beacon and source of hope for the country that is aiming for better healthcare services even as it battles the Coronavirus Disease 2019,” it said.