SSS sickness benefit claims drop in 2020

MANILA, Philippines — The Social Security System (SSS) reported lower disbursements for sickness benefits last year due largely to mobility restrictions.

The state-owned pension fund released P1.82 billion in sickness benefits last year, down by nearly 39 percent from P2.97 billion in 2019. The amount benefited 269,604 members last year, significantly lower than the previous year’s 458,851.

SSS president and chief executive officer Aurora Ignacio attributed the decrease in applications to the nationwide community quarantine, which affected transactions in branches, particularly filing for various benefit claims.

Claims, however, are expected to rise this year as restrictions may be loosened and as the pension fund steps up its digitalization drive.

“Claims may increase this year as the government eases community quarantine guidelines that will allow more people to go out of their respective homes,” Ignacio said.

The SSS sickness benefit is a daily cash allowance granted to qualified members confined at home or in the hospital for at least four days because of illness or injury.

They are compensated for up to 120 days for the current year, which can be extended for another 120 days the following year for the same medical condition.

Illnesses or injuries that persist for over 240 days can qualify for SSS disability benefits.

In line with social distancing measures, SSS implemented in July  last year the online Social Security (SS) Sickness Benefit Reimbursement Applications (SBRAs) for employers through its website.

This now allows employers to file sickness benefit reimbursement claims without having to submit an SBRA form to an SSS office after giving advance payment to employees.

“Aside from expediting the processing time of sickness benefit reimbursements by eliminating the transmission of claims from SSS branches to processing centers, this online facility will also reduce face-to-face interactions in our branches to help government efforts to stop spreading the virus,” Ignacio said.

Disbursements for sickness benefit under the Employees’ Compensation (EC) Fund also decreased in 2020 to P186.41 million, benefitting 22,757 members, down by 27.47 percent compared to P257.01 million for 34,860 members in 2019.

Sickness benefit under this fund, meanwhile, is granted to a member who suffers illness or injury while performing official duties related to employment.

As of December 2020, the pension fund has a total of 38.8 million members, of which only 41.7 percent or 16.18 million are regular paying members.