Duterte orders PhilHealth to defer contribution hike

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered the deferment of the 2021 contribution hike for members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

In his weekly address, Duterte said there would be no increase in contributions amid the pandemic.

“At this time of our life, may I just suggest to PhilHealth chairman, si Dante Gierran, at ‘yung lahat na, wag muna ngayon. No increase in contributions,” Duterte said.

“I will look for the money to fill it up. Maghanap tayo ng pera. Anyway, that is the job of the government: to make it easy for everybody at this time of our lives," he added.

Senator Bong Go earlier said Duterte had expressed willingness to sign any paper that would allow the deferment of the contribution increase, which was mandated by the Universal Health Care (UHC) law.

“Base sa usapan namin ni Pangulong Duterte, sang-ayon naman po siya na ipagpaliban pansamantala muna ang pagtaas sa rates ng contributions ng PhilHealth habang may pandemya pa tayong kinakaharap,” Go said.

“Sinabi niya na kung may maipapasang batas ang lehislatibo na naglalayong ipatupad ang deferment, o kung may kailangang aprubahan na dagdag na pondo mula gobyerno para hindi maantala ang serbisyo ng PhilHealth, pipirmahan niya ito pagkatapos mapag-aralan ng mabuti,” he added.

PhilHealth member contributions were supposed to increase to 3.5 percent from 3 percent to ensure “sufficient funding for the healthcare benefits of its 110 million members as mandated by the UHC Law.”

The contribution hike was announced after a multi-billion-peso corruption controversy rocked the state health insurer, leading to the resignation and the filing of charges against several of its top executives. — DVM/NB, GMA News