Philhealth to double premiums by next year

STATE-RUN Philippine Health Insurance Corp. will double its members’ premiums to P2,400 annually by Jan. 1 next year from P1,200 now due to the higher benefits they now receive, company president and chief executive Eduardo Banzon said on Tuesday.

He said the premiums of members sponsored by the national government or local government units and those of Filipino workers abroad would also increase to P2,400 by July 2012. But those members could still pay the old rate as long as they paid their dues before July.

“They can even be locked in to the P1,200 per-year rate if they sign up for two years,” Banzon said.

The rates paid by employed members would be pegged at 3 percent of their basic monthly salary by January 2013, with a maximum salary base of P50,000.

“As we increase our rates for members, we will make sure that our stakeholders, particularly the employers, shall have time to prepare for this investment in universal health care,” Banzon said.

“We envision a situation where each and every Philhealth member is assigned to a primary care provider through which preventive and diagnostic services can be availed of at no cost to the member.” Macon Ramos-Araneta, Manila Standard Today