Teachers, OFWs urge PhilHealth to scrap premium payment hike
MANILA, Philippines — Groups representing teachers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) urged Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) on Thursday to suspend the hike in premium payments that starts this month.
The state insurer previously announced that it is raising its premium rate to 4% by June, up from the current level of 3%, which means workers will be taking home less from their paychecks.
Under the Section 10 of Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act, the yearly increase in premium rates covers all direct contributors and will continue until 2025.
In a statement on Thursday, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines called for the immediate suspension of the 4% premium rate and a review of the hike plan, saying it will be a burden to workers and teachers as inflation continues to quicken and the prices of fuel remain high.
"If implemented, the premium hike will take away more of our take-home pay, instead of giving us additional resources for our needs and that of our families. There are many of our teachers mired in debt only take home P5,000 every month," ACT Philippines Secretary General Raymond Basilio said in a mix of English and Tagalog.
He added that the government should instead focus their efforts on raising the salaries of teachers before increasing PhilHealth premiums.
This year, the entry-level salary of public school teachers or those with the rank Teacher I is Salary Grade (SG) 11 or P25,439 per month.
Data from ACT Philippines showed that new teachers will have to shell out around P127 more each in PhilHealth contributions once the new premium pay hike kicks in.
Teachers with the highest rank — Principal IV with SG 22 (P69,963 per month) — are set to pay around P350 more each in PhilHealth contributions.
The 4% premium rate will be retroactive, and will also apply in the first five months of the year.
OFWs echo calls
In a separate statement, United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-MIGRANTE-Hong Kong) said that OFWs in Hong Kong have consistently opposed the PhilHealth insurance as well as other mandatory contributions required of them.
The group pointed out that such premiums are redundant since their employers already provide them with health insurance.
"We call on the government to scrap not just suspend the mandatory imposition of PhilHealth insurance, expanded OFW insurance, Pag-ibig Fund and the SSS. We [also] call on the government to instead provide free and genuine public health to all Filipinos," United Filipinos said.
For more than a year, PhilHealth and Pag-ibig fees remained suspended due to opposition from OFWs, according to the group.
Incoming Migrant Workers secretary Susan "Toots" Ople earlier said they are in talks with senator-elect JV Ejercito — the principal sponsor of the UHC Act — to suspend the increase in PhilHealth contributions. — With a report from Kaycee Valmonte
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