Philhealth to OFWs: Pay Philhealth Premiums before Leaving for Work Abroad
MANILA – The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) on Monday reminded re-hired and vacationing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to pay their Philhealth premium contributions prior to securing their Overseas Employment Certificates (OECs) from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
In an advisory, Philhealth said the move was in line with the move of POEA to implement a single collection policy for OECs starting last April 1.
POEA will only be collecting fees for OEC, and no longer for PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG Fund.
The collection counters of PhilHealth and other government agencies, however, will be retained at POEA in Mandaluyong City and in the one-stop shops of POEA nationwide.
“We call on our OFW-members to pay their PhilHealth premium contributions first before proceeding to POEA for their OECs. This will secure their social health insurance coverage, as well as that of their legal dependents, for their peace of mind,” said PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Atty. Alexander A. Padilla.
Padilla added that “OFW-members may still pay their premium contributions at the designated PhilHealth counters at the Balik-Manggagawa Center at POEA main office in Mandaluyong City, as well as through any of the 27 accredited collecting partners that we have earlier authorized for local collection from OFW-members.
“They may also pay at our Local Health Insurance Offices nationwide.”
Overseas Filipinos pay P2,400.00 annually for their premium contribution to PhilHealth. The amount includes coverage for all qualified legal dependents of a migrant worker, such as legal spouse who is not a PhilHealth member; legitimate and illegitimate children below 21 years old, unmarried and unemployed; and parents who are below 60 years old but are suffering from permanent disability which renders them totally dependent on the member for support.
Parents who are 60 years old and above and are not yet PhilHealth members may enroll under the Senior Citizen category.
PhilHealth pays for overseas hospitalization of migrant workers, as well as for the confinement of their legal dependents in the Philippines, through a reimbursement mechanism.
Migrant workers have 180 calendar days from the date of discharge to file their claim documents through any of PhilHealth’s 17 Regional Offices in the Philippines. All refunds are paid for in Philippine peso equivalent.