Senate OKs bill amending Universal Health Care Act on third, final reading

The Senate on Tuesday, August 27 approved on third and final reading the bill amending certain provisions in the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.

Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said passage into law of Senate Bill No. 2620 would pave the way for a mandated lower premium contribution for members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

“The passing on third reading of SB No. 2620 is a very good example of how united legislators are in crafting laws that will be truly felt and appreciated by our people, most especially those who heavily depend on our National Health Insurance Program (NHIP),” said Ejercito, sponsor of the measure.

The SB No. 2620 includes a provision prohibiting the transfer of any portion of fund or income of PhilHealth or provident fund, and special health fund to the General Fund of the National Government, or to any of its agencies or instrumentalities and Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs).

Under SB No. 2620, the proposed new schedule of premium contributions would be as follows:

Ejercito said the rationale behind the retention of the 5 percent rate for 2024 is to maintain the current premium rate for year 2024 as reflected in the original provision of Section 10 of Republic Act No. 11223.

“Since we are almost in the last quarter of this year and we are still deliberating the proposed measure, it will be difficult to  refund the payment collected from the PhilHealth members for the period of January up to the time that this bill will be enacted into law,” Ejercito said.

“Thus, the reduced premium rates as amended by the bill will become effective starting from year 2025 onwards,” he explained.

Furthermore, he said the bill ensures that the premium contributions of migrant workers shall be based on the income floor (10,000); 50 percent (50%) of the premium contribution of the migrant workers shall be shouldered by the national government.

However, in case of local manning agencies shall continue to shoulder 50% of the premium contribution.

Under the bill, Ejercito said unpaid premium contributions of migrant workers in distress shall not be collected upon their arrival in the country.

Also, failure to pay Philhealth contribution shall not be a ground for non-issuance of overseas employment certificate (OEC) of a migrant worker.

The bill also includes a new paragraph in Section 10 of RA 11223 granting the President the authority to suspend increases in Philhealth premiums in event of a state of national emergency, public health emergency or state of calamity.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, co-author of the measure, lauded the passage of the bill on third and final reading in the Senate.

“I believe that when we enacted the UHC Act five years ago, in 2019, we committed ourselves institutionally to progressively realize the aims of UHC, and by extension to provide maximum available resources to uphold and fulfill the rights and interests of every Filipino to quality, accessible and affordable health care,” she said.

Hontiveros also commended the Senate for not wasting the opportunity “to put an end to the issues, prospectively, on several issues hounding PhilHealth, its funds and operations.”