The Department of Health (DOH) said it is set to implement “One COVID-19 Allowance” for healthcare workers for this year.
"In line with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s pronouncement that the HCWs (healthcare workers) should be given higher Special Risk Allowance (SRA) in 2022, commensurate with their risks, the DOH will be implementing the One COVID-19 Allowance (OCA) this year," the DOH said in a statement on Thursday, Jan. 20.
The benefits previously given to healthcare workers will be discontinued following the implementation of OCA, said the DOH.
“Benefits, which have been previously enjoyed by a limited number of HCWs — Active Hazard Duty Pay for Public Health Workers; Meals, Accommodation and Transportation Allowance; and the Special Risk Allowance, for HCWs directly catering or exposed to COVID-19 patients — shall be discontinued and replaced by a more inclusive and responsive OCA,” it said.
The DOH said that the OCA "shall be provided to all health workers involved in COVID-19 response in line with the National Action Plan COVID-19 strategy of Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, Rehabilitation, and Vaccination (PDITR+) strategy."
“The allowance shall be equitably distributed to HCWs, taking into account their COVID-19 exposure classification -- this considers the type of health facility where they are assigned, work setting, and nature of work. Those deemed classified to be high risk will be eligible for P9,000.00 per month while those classified as moderate and low risk shall be given P6,000.00 and P3,000.00 respectively. The OCA shall also be pro-rated,” the DOH noted.
The DOH and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), will be issuing a Joint Administrative Order for the granting of benefits for healthcare workers.
The DOH has issued Administrative Order No. 2022-0001: Guidelines for COVID-19 Risk Exposure Classification, which will be disseminated in order to have a national database of health workers involved in the COVID-19 response and their respective risk classification.
The funds for healthcare workers' benefits is "For Later Release (FLR) and thus, will be approved by DBM once all documentary requirements have been fulfilled," the DOH noted.
About P1.08 billion under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) 2022 was allocated for the "grant of sickness and death benefits to HCWs who contracted COVID-19 in the line of duty," the DOH said.
“A budget of P50 billion, with P7.9 billion as part of FLR, has been allocated in the 2022 GAA for the provision of One COVID-19 Allowance,” the DOH said.
“However, considering the expected high number of eligible health workers, the DOH is constantly in coordination with the Department of Finance (DOF) to ensure that the remaining P42 billion currently lodged as unprogrammed funds will be prioritized to ensure the implementation of the OCA until the state of national emergency has been lifted,” it added.