BONG GO PUSHES REVIEW OF UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE LAW
SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, chairman of the Senate health and demography committee, has sought a review of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law over concerns from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) regarding increased premium contribution.
In his opening statement during a hearing of the joint congressional oversight committee on the UHC Law on Tuesday, Go said for universal health care to be sustainable, the country needed “to secure the necessary funding that will keep the program in good running shape.”
“While we have to make sure that the funds are allocated properly, we also have to take into consideration that the world is in a crisis,” he added.
The lawmaker noted, however, that most people, especially individually paying members like OFWs, could not afford to pay the premium at this time because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. This prompted the government to make contributions voluntary for them at this time.
“Dahil nga sa ating sitwasyon ngayon, minabuti muna ni Pangulong [Rodrigo] Duterte na gawing ng ating mga OFWs (Because of our current situation, President Duterte decided to make the contributions voluntary for our OFWs at this time).”
“Mag- focus muna tayo ngayon kung paano matutulungan ang mga kababayan nating nangangailangan Covid-19 crisis (Let’s focus first on how we could help our countrymen who
are in need because of the Covid-19 crisis),” Go said.
“Lalonangayonnanasa health emergency angbansaatnawawalan ngdagdagna kontribusyon krisis.Sabi nganila, ‘In this time of crisis, every single peso
counts’ (Especially now that the country is in a health emergency and the Filipinos have no means to give additional contributions as a result of the crisis. As they say, ‘In this time of crisis, every single peso counts’),” he added. The senator stressed the need “to study the need to amend the [UHC] law in consideration of the concerns raised by some sectors.”
In the hearing participated by multiple stakeholders, including OFWs from abroad, migrant worker representatives voiced out their concerns and gave suggestions on how to improve the implementation of the UHC Law. Executive Director Ellene Sana of the Center for Migrant Advocacy called for a moratorium on the collection of payments for OFWs until the end of the year or until the law has been amended.
She added that they remain steadfast in their belief that OFWs should be included in the UHC policy.
Some OFW groups, however, proposed for contributions to be voluntary under a fixed- rate scheme.
In response to their concerns, Go said the government was always open to listen to them. “‘Wag pokayongmag-alala. We are here for you and pakikinggannamin anginyonghinaing (Don’t worry; we are here for you and we will listen to your concerns).”
Meanwhile, during the hearing, he asked the Philippine Health Corp. (PhilHealth) what steps it had taken so far to make premium contributions voluntary.
PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales said they issued an advisory to make premium contributions voluntary during the pandemic.
He said the agency had been affected by the pandemic and was reconfiguring its budget for fiscal year 2020.
The senator reminded PhilHealth to ensure that the funds entrusted to it are safely guarded and free from dubious schemes and corruption.