LUCENA CITY, Quezon (PIA) – The state health insurance agency has assured the public that all Filipinos, including those without updated premium contributions, can still avail of benefits and access preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care as guaranteed by the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law.
In a recent episode of Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas, Dr. Edwin Oriña, Acting Regional Vice President of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) Region IV-A, emphasized that all PhilHealth members are entitled to immediate eligibility for health benefit packages under the UHC Law.
“With the advent of the Universal Health Care Law, or Republic Act 11223, which took effect in November 2021, immediate eligibility was granted. This means that if you enter a hospital without updated PhilHealth contributions, you can still enjoy the benefits of PhilHealth,” Oriña stated.
Oriña explained that the UHC Law ensures that even if members miss paying their premium contributions, they can still access PhilHealth hospitalization packages. The law guarantees that all Filipinos have equitable access to quality and affordable health care goods and services and are protected against financial risk.
However, Oriña encouraged everyone to pay their contributions to access additional programs and services offered by the state health insurance agency.
“As of now, it doesn’t matter whether you have made any payments or not; it won’t prevent you from receiving PhilHealth benefits. However, we will review any outstanding payments you may have from before and require you to pay retroactively. There is a cutoff period—you won’t have to pay for the years 2017 or 2018; only amounts due within the applicable cutoff period will need to be settled.”
Oriña also warned employers who fail or refuse to remit PhilHealth member contributions of their employees to settle and pay them accordingly.
“If the employer is not remitting payments, please inform us, and we will coordinate with them to ensure they fulfill their payment obligations. We have filed many cases against employers who have failed to pay, and we seek to recover unpaid amounts along with penalties,” Oriña added.
As the government agency responsible for providing health insurance coverage, PhilHealth is committed to ensuring that all citizens of the Philippines have access to affordable, acceptable, and accessible health care services. (CO/PIA-4A)
