RIYADH: Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia are complaining about the compulsory imposition of PhilHealth membership by the Philippine government, for which they pay 900 pesos yearly.
"The amount may not seem a lot, but to the majority of an estimated 1.4 million OFWs in the Kingdom, it is a lot," Francisco "Boy" Naval, an engineer and board chairman of the 8,000-plus member United OFW in Riyadh, told Arab News.
He added that if all OFWs pay the annual membership fee, the "amount would be huge by any stretch of the imagination."
"It would amount to 1.26 billion pesos annually," he added.
Under Republic Act 7875 as amended by the National Health Insurance Act of 1995, Rule V, Section 31, the government made PhilHealth membership compulsory.
The Act says all land-based OFWs should be required to enroll as individual paying members. They are also required to present appropriate documents as proof of their status as OFWs.
Other workers said that membership should have been selective, assuming that the government is determined to implement it.
"Those who are not provided with medical care by their companies should have been the ones required to be members," said Chuck Obero, yacht captain at the Saudi Naval Base in Jubail.
Jauhari V. Usman, chapter commander of the Order of the Knights of Rizal in Jeddah (OKOR-Jeddah) and Kasapi Congress adviser, agreed, but said that while it may not have benefits to many OFWs, it is useful to others.
"I was able to avail of its benefits while I was in the Philippines. But the benefits it provides, you also enjoy if you are a member of the Social Security System (SSS)," he said.
There are also OFWs who are provided with medical care services by their companies but don't have families either because they did not marry, or their parents have died.
"In this case, they don't need PhilHealth membership but are forced to pay the annual fee because it is required by the government. This being so, the money they pay is useless," said Buraidah-based Dionisio Tabuco Jr., an engineer and president of the 900-plus member Samahan ng mga Manggagawang Pilipino sa Gassim (Sampiga) in Qassim.
Tabuco added that there's a need to amend the law.
He added that the government made membership mandatory for all OFWs, despite the fact it knows that many of the workers, including their legal dependents staying with them outside the Philippines, are already provided with medical services by their respective employers in the Kingdom.
He added that what seems to be the only advantage is the fact that if an OFW leaves his family in the Philippines to work overseas, his wife, children and parents could benefit from medical services under PhilHealth if they get sick.
An OFW in Dammam claimed that the PhilHealth benefits are not that much.
"My brother, who is a PhilHealthmember in Naga City, in the Bicol Region, was hospitalized and his bill amounted to 300,000 pesos, but he received only a 6,000-peso reimbursement from PhilHealth," he said.
Dr. Rey B. Aquino, PhilHealth president and CEO, responded that the computation of benefits depend on the hospital category, classification of illness and the number of days that the patient was in care.
"The expenses for the confinement in Naga are indicated in the benefit payment notice. It shows the breakdown of payments made by PhilHealth, such as the amount for room, medicines, laboratory exams, operating room, and doctor's professional fee," he said in an e-mail to Arab News.
He said that the breakdown of payments was sent to the patient when the refund was made.
© Arab News 2011
