Duterte stops PhilHealth from requiring OFWs to pay premiums

  MANILA – Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the UAE and around the world will not be required to pay premiums to Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the government health agency to make it voluntary for OFWs, the Philippine Government announced on Monday (May 4). Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced that Duterte made this directive after OFW groups criticized PhilHealth's move to make it mandatory for OFWs to pay a monthly premium. “Nag-issue ng direktiba ang ating Presidente sa PhilHealth para gawing boluntaryo po ang pagbabayad ng mga OFWs ng PhilHealth premiums (The President issued a directive to PhilHealth to make voluntary the paying of premiums by OFWs),” Roque said. The spokesman said Duterte’s directive is meant to ease OFWs burdens as they grapple with the impact of Covid-19. “While there is an ongoing crisis, the President decided not to implement additional burden to our OFWs especially since many of them are getting repatriated and losing their jobs),” Roque said. Roque said Health Secretary Francisco Duque has also suspended a rule in the Universal Health Care law that increases OFWs’ mandatory contribution. He said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will not require OFWs to pay PhilHealth contribution before being issued with an Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC). OFWs who do not pay their PhilHealth premium contributions will still receive benefits and be issued an OEC, Roque said. “It’s stated in the law we pushed for that if OFWs fail to pay their premiums, it won’t be a reason for them to lose their benefits. So, whatever happens, the state will take care of them because it is part of the obligation of the state to provide Filipinos with quality health services,” he said in Filipino. https://www.expatmedia.net/poea-issues-advisory-oec-issuance-continues-without-philhealth-payment/2020/05/

Officials debunk fake reports of travel ban

As Expatmedia.net reported, officials have debunked fake reports on social media alleging travel restrictions for OFWs who do not pay mandatory premiums. The reports alleged that OFWs who do not pay PhilHealth premiums will not be issued OECs and will be banned from traveling. Speaking to Expatmedia.net on May 2, Labor Attache Felicitas Bay said that OECs are still being issued without requiring Filipinos in Dubai and the Northern Emirates to become PhilHealth members. A source from the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi also confirmed that the procedure for issuing OECs to Filipinos in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain remains the same, with applicants required to secure the standard online appointment to be accommodated. OFWs need an OEC to be able to return to their workplace after visiting the Philippines. The document is inspected upon the OFW’s departure from any Philippine airport. The POEA has so far not made PhilHealth membership as a requirement to the issuance of OEC, which means that OFWs are technically still not compelled to pay for PhilHealth coverage and can still get the OEC in order to travel out of the Philippines. Speaking to Expatmedia.net, Gemma Sotto, head of Global PCR International, the Philippine National Police’s helpline for OFWs, said PhilHealth can’t impose mandatory payments on OFWs or impose travel restrictions through the OEC from the POEA. “PhilHealth doesn’t have the right to impose mandatory through POEA. They can’t force OFWs to pay for it, according to POEA. So OEC can still be released without PhilHealth,” Sotto told Expatmedia.net. https://www.expatmedia.net/philhealth-cant-force-ofws-pay-premium-no-effect-oec-filipinos-uae-worldwide/2020/05/

Not part of UHC law

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Roque also explained that the increase in PhilHealth’s premium contribution is not in the law, but part of PhilHealth's implementing rules and regulations. “It’s not in the law that OFWs should pay additional premium,” he said, adding that PhilHealth did not consult him when it drafted its rules and regulations. Roque, meanwhile, assured that Duterte will not tolerate corruption within the PhilHealth and that complaints against former and current PhilHealth officials for their alleged inaction on a scam involving the issuance of fake premium receipts to OFWs are now filed before the Ombudsman. “The President has zero tolerance for corruption. There are cases filed before the Ombudsman and we are expecting the new leadership of the PhilHealth to look into these complaints,” he said. Under PhilHealth’s circular in April, “premium of overseas Filipinos shall be computed based on their monthly income, to be paid in Philippine peso equivalent, in accordance with the terms of payment and corresponding due dates as prescribed by the corporation.” The circular mandates OFWs earning a monthly income of P10,000 to P 60,000 to pay 3 percent of their monthly salary, higher than the 2.75 percent in 2019.

PhilHealth criticized

Global PCR International head Sotto joined OFWs in the UAE and around the world to express her disapproval of PhilHealth’s latest move. “I don’t understand the purpose of PhilHealth doing this. Let them clean up their own yard for their problems before doing mandatory payment for OFWs,” said Sotto, referring to the health agency’s corruption scandals exposed last year, adding that she is “not amenable” to the 3 percent premium, which she says “is not helping the OFW”. Last year, Duterte said he wanted a “clean slate” for PhilHealth after it was linked to scams of fake members, ghost patients, bogus claims and overpayment of hospitals worth P154 billion. Duterte said the loss is “totally, totally unacceptable”. In a tweet, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin also criticized the contribution hike, saying it would “not benefit the OFWs at all.”

Thousands sign petition to scrap mandatory payment

Meanwhile,  OFWs in the UAE and around the world have signed an online petition calling for the removal of PhilHealth’s mandatory 3 percent premium payment from the monthly salaries of OFW members. The petition on Change.Org has amassed more than 300,000 signatories as of Monday (May 4). It stems from a recently published PhilHealth circular making it mandatory for OFWs to pay a monthly membership premium equivalent to 3 percent of their salary. According to the circular published on PhilHealth’s official Facebook account on April 22, OFWs will need to declare and show proof of their monthly salaries and make a 3 percent payment towards their PhilHealth membership every month based on their salary. Those who miss a payment will be required to pay all missed contributions with monthly compounded interest. The circular was signed by Philhealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales in April. https://www.facebook.com/PhilHealthofficial/photos/a.261644413900245/3198667586864565/?type=3&theater

OFWs react

Faith Ruth Villanueva, one of those who signed the petition, described the mandatory premiums as “burdensome”. Villanueva told Expatmedia.net that if she were to make the monthly payments, it would amount to more than P2,000 per month based on her current salary as an expat teacher in Laos. The petition says “OFWs and our dependents have been already struggling amidst this pandemic and yet PhilHealth had issued a very unfair memo regarding premium payments". "It is very unfortunate that they call OFWs modern heroes and yet they penalize us with such directives,” the petition continued, urging PhilHealth to reverse the directive for being "unfair and an abuse to our migrant workers.” Carlo Yarcia, criticized PhilHealth for imposing a “heavy burden to all OFWs” and called on the agency to “stop using overseas workers as a milking cow”. “I am willing to pay P2,400 per year but not 3 percent of my salary monthly for 12 months!” James Cipriano wrote on the online petition. Dubai-based OFW Christine A. told Expatmedia.net that the monthly premium payments "are exorbitant, considering that many OFWs end up not using PhilHealth benefits while abroad most of the time". Meanwhile, Lei Althea Ramos from Dubai told Expatmedia.net she has been paying her PhilHealth contribution  for nearly 20 years but has not claimed benefits. "It makes me teary eyed with anger," she said, expressing worries that OFW salaries will be affected if the premium payments are enforced. ICA/Expat Media
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