The Senate has approved on second reading a bill giving benefits and allowances to all health care workers during a state of public health emergency such as the current COVID-19 epidemic.
Covered under Senate Bill 2421 are all health workers in government and in the private sector whatever is their employment status.
They will be given special risk allowance (SRA) because of the dangers of infection in their work places.
The measure allots P3,000 every month to those working in low risk areas; P6,000 every month in medium risk areas and P9,000 every month in high risk areas.
Those who suffer mild to moderate infection or other sicknesses in an epidemic shall be given P15,000; this will go up to P100,000 to those hit with severe or critical infection; and P1 million to the family of those who die of COVID-19 infection.
Those infected who require medical intervention and regular COVID-19 tests shall be paid by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth).
This is aside from the benefits and hazard pay mandated by the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers.
The measure seeks to give benefits to non-medical workers and outsourced personnel brought into health facilities in their COVID-19 response.
It states that this will be made retroactive to July 1, 2021.
The bill goes into its third and final phase in the Senate plenary session next week.
The House of Representatives approved last Monday a similar measure in the committee level.