SSS W. Visayas benefit payments increase
Benefit payments in Western Visayas have increased in the first four months of the year due to higher regular pension disbursements, state-run Social Security System (SSS) said.
In a statement, Raul A. Casiano, SSS Western Visayas Division officer-in-charge, said the agency has released billion in benefit payments to its members in region from January to April this year, higher by 4.8 percent than the same period last year.
Casiano said that among the benefits, regular pensions comprised the biggest share of more than 91 percent of the total disbursements.
“Payment of regular monthly pension, rose from billion in 2014 to billion in 2015. On the other hand, retirement benefit which includes lump sum payment and other initial benefits increased from million in 2014 to million in 2015,” Casiano said. For medical benefits, SSS paid
million for maternity benefits, million for sickness benefits and million for disability benefit. “Aside from medical benefits, SSS also gives non-medical benefits such as death and funeral grants. Funeral grants increased from million to million while death benefit decreased by 12 percent, from million to million,” Casiano said.
Meanwhile, salary loan disbursements decreased from million to million down by 4 percent, while members availing of the loan privilege fell by 9.5 percent from 19,973 members to 18,084.
“The decrease in salary loan application was due to the improvement in the lives of our members after the wrath of super-typhoon Yolanda,” Casiano said.
“Last year, members flocked to SSS to file for salary loan which they used to repair their houses, buy basic necessities such as food, water and clothing,” he added.
At end-April 2015, SSS Western Visayas serves 63,262 employers and 1.84 million registered members including Overseas Filipino Workers. Membership increased by 3.6 percent from the same period last year.
“We encourage our members from the Western Visayas region to religiously pay their contributions to continuously avail of SSS benefits in times of contingency and save more for their retirement in the future,” Casiano said.