MikeLigalig.com

By Danny O. Calleja

While the tax exemption of Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) contributions has been affirmed and yet, its clients are faced with a separate burden — rates increase--starting this year.

Under PhilHealth Circular No. 22 s-2011 entitled New Premium Contributions to the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) in Support to the Attainment of Universal Health Care and Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the new premium rates take effect starting January 1.

PhilHealth regional director Veronica Mateum on Monday said the new rates affect contributions to sponsored, individually paying, overseas workers and employed programs that cover in Bicol over 3.7 million individuals or about 63 percent of the regional population of 5.9 million.

Under the sponsored program are those that are included in the National Household Targeting System - Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) list of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that are covered for two years. From P1,200, their annual premium would be P2,400 effective Jan. 1, 2012, Mateum said.

For individually paying members, the annual premium starting July, this year will be P2,400 or P200 monthly or an increase of 100 percent from the old rate of P100 per month. Self-employed professionals earning an average monthly income of more than P25,000, meanwhile will pay an annual rate of P3,600.

Premium contribution of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) starting this month had been increased from P900 to P1,200 up to June and starting on July 2012, their annual payments would become P2,400.

For the employed sector, contribution of each member is pegged at three percent of the basic salary shared equally by the employer and the monthly salary base is equal to P7,000 and salary ceiling, P50,000.

Mateum said the need of increasing the members' premium contribution had been explained by PhilHealth President Dr. Eduardo Banzon as necessary in sustaining the enhanced health benefits the PHIC is providing its members.

“Sa unang tingin ay medyo may kabigatan ito lalo na doon sa mga mahihirap na miembro, pero talagang kailangan para na rin sa kanilang kapakanan (At first glance, this may be heavy especially to indigent members but it is indeed necessary for their own benefits),” she said.

Mateum cited that PhilHealth benefit packages have been enhanced, mentioning among others the boosted newborn tests and care services worth P1,750 in addition to Normal Spontaneous Delivery (NSD) of P8,000 in Level One hospitals or P6,500 in Levels Two to Four hospitals, and the Indicated Caesarian Section (Cs) package of P19,000.

Also under the new procedure, rates for medical services and surgical procedures have been pre-fixed for 25 different cases that include dengue 1, P8,000; dengue 2, P16,000; pneumonia 1, P15,000; pneumonia 2, P32,000; essential hypertension, P9,000; cerebral infarction (CVA), 1, P28,000; cerebrovascular accident with hemorrhage (CVA) 2, P38,000; acute gastroenteritis, P6,000); asthma, P9,000 and; typhoid fever, P14,000.

New packages for surgical procedures are: radiotherapy, P3,000 per session; hemodialysis, P4,000 per session; appendectomy, P24,000; cholecystectomy, P31,000; dilatation and curettage; P11,000; thyroidectomy, P31,000; herniorrhaphy, P21,000; mastectomy, P22,000; hysterectomy, P30,000 and; cataract surgery, P16,000.

At the same time, she added PhilHealth contributions has been clarified by the BIR as exempted from its Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 53-2011 which states that voluntary contributions to the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Home Development Mutual Fund or Pagtutulungan sa kinabukasan Ikaw, Bangko, Industriya at Gobyerno ( Pag-IBIG Fund) are subject to tax.

The BIR considers as taxable “investments" the contributions made over and above those mandated by law, particularly because the benefits that members of these institutions are bound to receive – such as pension or loans extended – will be enhanced.

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