The House of Representatives approved on final reading a
measure seeking to grant the president of the Philippines the power to suspend
the scheduled increases in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation
(PhilHealth) premium contributions.
House Bill No. 8461, seeks to amend Republic Act No. 11223 or the Universal Healthcare Act, by giving the President the power to defer the scheduled PhilHealth contribution increases in times of national emergencies or when the public interest so requires.
House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, the principal author of the measure, earlier said that the bill “will provide a much-needed relief from the negative effects of the pandemic and will assure Filipinos that the government is sensitive to their sentiments.”
Currently, the Universal Health Care Act mandates increases in member premiums by increments of 0.5 percent every year, starting 2021 until it reaches the 5-percent limit in 2025.
For 2021, the premium rate is scheduled to increase to 3.5 percent of the monthly basic salary, from the 2020 rate of 3 percent.
PhilHealth has thus suspended the contribution hike which was
supposed to take effect in January following the order of President Rodrigo
Duterte.
The House also has approved three other bills of national significance. HB No. 8179, or the proposed “Sustainable Forest Management Act” aims to provide the policy direction in the formulation of strategies and programs for the protection and sustainable management of forest lands to enhance forest ecosystems services.
HB No. 8242, otherwise known as the proposed “Right to
Adequate Food Act,” aims to guarantee the right to adequate food by making it
an obligation and responsibility of the State to ensure and facilitate access
to food, its availability and adequacy. It also aims to provide a comprehensive
legal framework which will harmonize all relevant Philippine laws on the right
to adequate food and prohibit violations on the same.
HB No. 8259 exempts medical frontliners from paying 25
percent of income tax due for taxable year 2020 as the government’s
appreciation for their exemplary service in the battle against COVID-19. - From reports
