PIA Press Release
Wednesday, January 04, 2012 PhilHealth implements new premium rates effective January 1 this yearby Thelma c. BicarmeTUGUEGARAO CITY, Jan. 4 (PIA) -- The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) region 2 has announced that starting January 1 of this year, there will be increases in the premium contributions of members, whether they are under the sponsored program, partial subsidy scheme, individually paying and overseas workers programs and employed sector. Sam Murillo of Philhealth 2 said based on the Philhealth Circular 22 series of 2011, the premium contribution of all National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), identified poor families of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under the sponsored program shall be P2,400 per year, effective January 1, 2012. For premiums under partial subsidy scheme, local government units/sponsors who enroll following the calendar year and pays their contribution within the first semester of CY 2012 shall pay an annual premium of P1,200. Same annual premium shall be paid by LGUs/sponsors who enroll following the calendar year within the first semester of 2012 and sign a memorandum of agreement and commit to pay their contribution in two consecutive years. For individually paying members and overseas workers, the annual premium starting July this year will be P2,400 and self-employed professionals earning an average monthly income of more than P25,000 will pay an annual rate of P3,600. For the employed sector, contribution of each member shall be computed at three percent of the basic salary of the employee effective January 1, 2013 and shall be continually shared equally by the employer. The monthly salary base is determined at P7,500 per month with the minimum annual contribution of P2,500 and the monthly salary ceiling is determined at P50,000. Murillo said the increase of premium payments is in line with the implementation of the Universal Health Care by eventually having all Filipinos taken care by a primary health care provider. “This is the corporation’s support to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) health targets by 2015,” Murillo added. (TCB/PIA 2) | 
