PhilHealth: Benefits plan won't be affected should Marcos suspend premium hike --- By TED CORDERO, GMA Integrated News

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation's (PhilHealth) plan to expand the coverage of its benefits packages this year will still push through even if President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. suspends the mandated increase in premium rates as scheduled under the Universal Health Care (UHC) law. At a press conference in Pasig City on Friday, PhilHealth president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said that the state health insurer already implemented the increase in premium or contribution rate this year in the absence of any directive from the President to suspend. "There is no message or directive from Malacañang so we already [implemented] the increase," Ledesma said. To recall, Marcos ordered the suspension of the premium rate and income ceiling hike of PhilHealth for the calendar year 2023, citing the socioeconomic challenges caused by the pandemic. Last year, the premium rate was supposed to increase to 4.5%, while the monthly basic salary ceiling should have been P90,000. For this year, the premium rate will go up to 5% while the monthly basic salary ceiling will increase to P100,000 and the minimum remains at P10,000. To illustrate, if a worker earns P10,000 a month, his/her monthly contribution to PhilHealth should amount to P500 effective this year. The premium contribution shall be equally shared between the employee and employer. Should the President order to suspend anew the scheduled premium hike this year, Ledesma said, "Once we get the directive or instruction, we will immediately comply." The PhilHealth chief said the state health insurer is expecting an additional P17 billion in revenues this year from the increase in premium rate. "If PBBM freezes it, that'd be minus P17 billion for the year… but with our current cash position and with all the help we are getting from other agencies, I don't think that anything will be affected, all the plans will push through as expected," Ledesma said. "We're just talking of minus P17 billion for 2024, I think we will be fine," he said. This year, Ledesma said the state health insurer is planning to "rationalize six other case rates for the top cases or the most burdensome diseases and commonly availed cases among Filipinos." "On top of that, PhilHealth is looking into reviewing all case rates in 2024. This is prompted by the increasing costs of healthcare in the country brought about by inflation. This move is expected to greatly lower out-of-pocket expenses of patients during hospitalization and outpatient care," he said. Ledesma added, "We commit to fund the proposed rationalization and expansion of benefits to ease the burden of the Filipino people in times of medical need and lessen the out-of-pocket expenses of members." — VDV, GMA Integrated News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more