MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos should expect to pay higher contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) beginning June 2022.

In a statement on Wednesday, May 4, PhilHealth said that it would resume the implementation of the rate hike and income ceiling of P80,000 upon the directive of Malacañang, which supposedly took effect in January 2022. Starting June, the state health insurer said that it would proceed with a contribution rate of 4%.

“The collection systems are already set for the new rate and ceiling starting with payments and remittances for the applicable month of June 2022, while differential payments for January to May 2022 may be paid until December 2022 without interest,” PhilHealth said.

Under the Universal Health Care law, premium rates should gradually increase starting from 2.75% in 2019 until it reaches 5% for both 2024 and 2025. In 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered PhilHealth to suspend the rate hike due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“PhilHealth assures all members that legislated contribution schedule will continue to provide all Filipinos with adequate financial protection against hospitalization costs,” the state health insurer said.

In 2020, lawmakers investigated PhilHealth for alleged corruption as whistleblowers claimed that some P15 billion in funds were pocketed by its executives. These anomalies fueled anger against the Duterte government at a time when the Philippines had the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. PhilHealth, however, maintained that there was no missing funds and all their transactions were accounted for. – Rappler.com