A labor group said it is backing the calls in Congress to amend the law governing the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for imposing “exorbitant” premiums on overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
In a statement issued last Sunday, the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) said it welcomed the statement of Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose S. Salceda to push for new legislation in the 19th Congress, which will implement comprehensive reforms in PhilHealth.
Salceda hit the imposition of PhilHealth membership fees on OFWs, which could reach as high as P38,400.
“FFW is one with Salceda’s proposal to reform the healthcare system, exempt OFWs from contributions or make OFW contributions voluntary,” the labor group said.
Earlier this month, PhilHealth announced it will start implementing the mandatory membership for OFWs, which was suspended in 2020 upon the instruction of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Based on its Circular 2020-0014, PhilHealth imposed a schedule of premium percentage increase based from the percentage of the income of OFWs with a corresponding income floor and income ceiling in line with the provisions of Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.
The issuance started with a 2.75 percent rate in 2019, which has already risen to 4 percent this year.
The FFW said the premium policy was passed without a comprehensive consultation with the affected OFWs.
“When they (Congress) [drafted] the bill, they did it without consultation in Qatar about the Universal Health Care; not with the Filipino community here,” former President of the Bayanihan ng mga Manggagawa sa Konstruksyon sa Qatar – Federation of Free Workers (BMKQ-FFW) Ressie S. Fos said.