Gov’t urged to sponsor Philhealth dues of domestic helpers deployed overseas

The ACTS-OFW Coalition of Organizations wants the national government to pay for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) premiums of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) deployed overseas.

“The government should sponsor the Philhealth contributions of our HSWs abroad, many of whom are earning no more than the P20,000 (or $400) monthly minimum pay set by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration,” said ACTS-OFW chairman Aniceto Bertiz III.

“In fact, in the Middle East, we still have HSWs who are receiving only $200 (or P10,000) because of illegal deductions by dishonest employers or crooked placement agencies,” Bertiz said.

The vast majority of Filipino HSWs overseas come from severely disadvantaged households, and a significant number of them are single parents, Bertiz, a former member of Congress, pointed out.

“They are already facing harsh financial difficulties and simply cannot afford to contribute on their own to Philhealth,” Bertiz said.

The government has been sponsoring the Philhealth premiums of underprivileged segments of the population for years, Bertiz said.

In the 2020 General Appropriations Act, for instance, Bertiz said the government has set aside a total of P71.3 billion to subsidize the National Health Insurance Program under Philhealth.

The amount is meant to pay for the Philhealth contributions of the following:

• Indigents under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction as identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD);
• Senior citizens pursuant to Republic Act No. 10645;
• Unemployed persons with disability as jointly determined by the Department of Health and the National Council for Disability Affairs; and
• Financially-incapable point-of-service patients as identified by the DSWD or social welfare officers of local government units.

“Many of our migrant workers are also wary of paying their Philhealth premiums due to unchecked widespread fraud, including the non-remittance and the illegal diversion of contributions by unscrupulous recruitment agencies,” Bertiz said.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently ordered the suspension of the compulsory collection of Philhealth contributions from all categories of migrant Filipino workers.

Instead, they may now pay their Philhealth premiums only if they want to.