UHC amendments pass second reading
THE Department of Health (DOH) welcomed the approval of House Bill 11357, or An Act Strengthening the Philippine Healthcare System to Achieve Efficiency and Equity, and to Improve Public Health Emergency Preparedness, on second reading at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The measure was authored and sponsored by House Health Committee chairman and Batanes Rep. Ciriaco Gato Jr. with 67 other lawmakers.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., being a former provincial governor, knew that the heart of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law is its operations.
«His broad national perspective rooted in local government implementation is what inspires the DOH as we actively support both the House of Representatives and the Senate in improving our UHC Act,» Herbosa said.
The amendments introduced by House Appropriations Panel acting chairman and Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo were accepted by the majority.
The amendments include setting the premium contribution rates for all members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to 3.5 percent from a 5 percent rate to be adjusted on an annual basis based on actuarial studies to be reviewed by a non-government independent body approved by Congress.
Migrant workers, both land- and sea-based, would no longer be required to pay premiums.
AdvertisementTheir employers would pay 50 percent of their dues while the national government would shoulder the rest.
Salaries of PhilHealth officials and employees were set to a maximum of 7.5 percent of its total benefit payments from the previous years instead of 7.5 percent of its premium collections.
Component cities and municipalities would maintain their own special health funds with guidelines to be developed by the DOH in consultation with the Department of Budget and Management and the UHC Coordinating Council.
The UHC Coordinating Council, co-chaired by the health and interior and local government secretaries, would be tasked to expedite the implementation of UHC at both national and sub-national levels.