‘PhilHealth faces fund depletion’

MANILA, Philippines — The suspension of premium contributions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. will deplete PhilHealth’s funds, an official said.

PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales said the agency would run out of resources if OFWs would permanently stop paying premiums, as mandated under the Universal Health Care (UHC) law.

“The premium contributions that we collect are part of the funds that we use for the medical needs of those who get sick. If they don’t contribute, our funds will be depleted,” Morales said in an online interview with “The Chiefs” on One News channel Monday night.

President Duterte has suspended the collection of higher premium contributions from OFWs, and said OFWs should pay premiums on a voluntary basis.

OFWs opposed the .25-percent increase in their PhilHealth premium this year. The adjustment will complete the three percent hike in premium for 2020. Last year, the agency imposed an increase of 2.75 percent.

Morales said by becoming PhilHealth members, the OFWs as well as their dependents are protected.

He said they are expecting a net loss as PhilHealth was tasked to shoulder the hospital expenses of COVID-19 patients on case rate package.

“We are anticipating a net loss, especially since we were not given the budget that we asked for this year and then we had this pandemic. Our funds will be affected,” Morales said. – Mayen Jaymalin, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Delon Porcalla