Tax benefit to cushion impact of higher PhilHealth premium

MANILA, Philippines - Self-employed and individually paying workers earning not more than P250,000 yearly can deduct from their taxable income the P2,400 minimum annual premium that they will pay to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), the agency said yesterday.

Dr. Eduardo Banzon, PhilHealth president and chief executive officer, said the National Internal Revenue Code allows salaried workers and self-employed individuals to spend up to P2,400 yearly for health and/or hospitalization insurance premium and deduct the amount from their taxable income.

“We expect most of our 4.22 million self-employed members to be shielded by a tax allowance,” he said.

Effective July 1, 2012, self-employed individuals contributing to PhilHealth on their own are required to pay the minimum annual premium of P2,400.

Banzon said individually contributing members who sign a policy contract by the end of June and commit to pay in lump for two consecutive years would enjoy a discounted premium pegged at P1,200 annually, or P2,400 for the entire 24-months of 2012-2014.

Discounted premium will be provided those who would pay before the end of June, fixed rate of only P1,200 for the whole year of 2012, he added.

Banzon said the 5.2 million indigent families identified under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) are already enrolled as PhilHealth members and the national government subsidizes their premiums.

 “These are also the same 5.2 million poorest households targeted by government as direct cash transfer beneficiaries,” he added.