PhilHealth willing to discuss employers’ premium rate hike concerns

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has expressed its willingness to discuss with employers the concerns over the impending premium rate hike.

“PhilHealth is open to proactively working with our employer groups to further assess the situation,” the Department of Health (DOH) said in a statement, in an apparent reaction to the clamor of employers to defer the increase in premium next year.

PhilHealth’s membership contribution will increase to 4.5 percent from four percent starting January 2023. This means members earning P10,000 monthly will see their P400 contribution increase to P450.

Although the DOH said it is aware of the concerns over the potential burden of increasing contributions amid rising inflation, it stressed that the increase in PhilHealth premiums is mandated under the Universal Health Care (UHC).

It pointed out that the “continuous flow of funds from premium collections will be crucial in funding the expansion of benefits as set forth by the UHC Act.”

The increases in premium payments, it added, would be used to progressively expand benefits and that deferring the scheduled increase will impact the rate of benefit expansion.

“These expansions and enhancements in coverage can only be done if there are available resources,” the DOH pointed out.

It also said that it would wait for the decision of President Marcos on the concerns raised by some groups on the PhilHealth premium hike.