Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) President Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said he is open to the idea of employers shouldering their employees’ health insurance coverage amid controversies surrounding the state health insurer.
Ortiz-Luis said the recent actions of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) are to the detriment of the health and welfare of its members.
“Kung hindi pa rin magbabago ang pagtakbo ng PhilHealth, we’d rather go on self-insure. Baka mas makikinabang pa mga empleyado sa ganung sistema,” he said in a radio interview last week.
(If the management of PhilHealth does not improve, we’d rather go with self-insurance. It might even be more beneficial for the employees if we go with that approach.)
While there are companies that do offer private health insurance, most rely on PhilHealth for their employees since it’s the mandatory national health insurance system that covers all Filipinos.
Opting to take over the health insurance coverage of employees, and the costs it would incur, is certainly a bold move—one that Ortiz-Luis is keen on exploring over concerns about PhilHealth.
As the head of ECOP, as well as the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport), he has expressed concern about PhilHealth’s transfer of ₱89.9 billion worth of funds to the national treasury.
Last year, the Department of Finance (DOF) directed the state health insurer to transfer excess funds, which are intended for the government’s unprogrammed appropriations.
The agency previously said this was a “more prudent” option for the government than borrowing or imposing taxes.
Several groups have filed petitions before the Supreme Court (SC) to block the transfer, with many calling to use such funds to expand PhilHealth’s benefit coverage instead.
To access these benefits, direct contributors—which covers employees—pay a premium rate of five percent reflective of their salary.
And while PhilHealth has thumbs down any plan to raise premium contributions, Ortiz-Luis is already opposing such a move.
“Nagrereklamo ‘yung mga members na hindi naman nakukuha ‘yung serbisyong gusto nila,” he pointed out.
(The members are complaining that they are not receiving the services they want.)