Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 5047
Introduced by REP. ANTHONY G. DEL ROSARIO
EXPLANATORY NOTE

Section 11, Article XiIl (Social Justice and Human Rights) of the 1987
Constitution provides, in part, that ‘The State shail adopt an integrated and
comprehensive approach to health development which shail endeavour to make
essential goods, heaith and other social services available to all the people at affordable
Cast. xxx.”

This bill seeks to mandate the universal coverage of alll citizens in the National
Health Insurance Program.

Republic Act (RA) No. 7875, otherwise known as the National Health Insurance
Act of 1995, was enacted to ensure accessibility and affordability of heatthcare
‘coverage to all Filipinos. To this day, however, the National Health Insurance Program
has not completely realized this objective. Under RA 7875, membership is extended to
members of SSS, GSIS and MEDICARE, retirees, pensioners and their dependents.
But in the case of indigents, domestic helpers and unemployed, the law provides for
several requirements which prevent most of them to be covered by the program such as
the payment for annual premium contributions, and documentary and processing fees.
Further, the law requires the fourth, fifth and sixth class local goverment units to
‘subsidize the contributions of these indigents within their respective areas. However,
because of limited resources of local government units, many are still deprived of the
benefits of the National Health Insurance Program. In fact, many indigents die of
various ailments without availing of the public healthcare services.

This proposed measure mandates that every Filipino should be entitled to
mandatory universal healthcare coverage through their immediate inclusion and
membership in the Philippine Health Insurance System. The membership will entitle
them to healthcare benefits provided under RA 7875. Also, the required annual
premium contribution shall be subsidized by the National Government which shall be
included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this bill is highly recommended.

lY G. DEL ROSARIO


Republic of the Phifippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House BiLNo,__5047

Introduced by REP. ANTHONY G. DEL ROSARIO

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE MANDATORY UNIVERSAL COVERAGE OF ALL CITIZENS
IN THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM, AMENDING FOR THE
PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7875, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE NATIONAL
HEALTH INSURANCE ACT OF 1995

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 6 of Republic Act No. 7875 is hereby amended to read as
follows:
“SEC. 6, MANDATORY Coverage. — All citizens of the Philippines
shall be [covered by] ENTITLED TO THE MANDATORY UNIVERSAL
COVERAGE OF the National Health Insurance Program. [In
accordance with the principles of universality and compulsory coverage
enumerated in Section 2 (b) and 2 (I) hereof, implementation of the
Program shall, furthermore be gradual and phased in over a period of
not more than fifteen (15) years: Provided, That the Program shall not
be made compulsory in certain provinces and cities until the corporation
shall be able to ensure that members in such localities shall have
reasonable access to adequate and acceptable healthcare services}.”
SEC. 2. Section 7 of the same Act is hereby further amended to read as follows:
“SEC. 7. Enroliment. — The Program shall enroll ALL CITIZENS OF
THE PHILIPPINES AS beneficiaries in order for them to be placed under

coverage that entities them to avail of benefits with the assistance of the


financial arrangements provided by the Program. The process of
enrolment shall include the identification of beneficiaries, issuance of
appropriate documentation of beneficiaries, issuance of appropriate

documentation specifying eligi

lity to benefits, and indicating how
membership was obtained or is being maintained. The enrollment shall
proceed in accordance with these specific policies:

poe OC xxx.”
SEC. 3. Section 29 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 29. Payment for indigent Contributions. - THE REQUIRED
ANNUAL PREMIUM [C]conttibutions for indigent members shall be
[subsidized partially] FULLY PAID by the [local government unit where the
member resides. The Corporation shalt provide counterpart financing
equal to the LGU's subsidy for indigents: Provided, That in the case of
fourth, fifth and sixth class LGUs, the National Goverment shall provide
up to ninety percent (90%) of the subsidy for indigents for a period not
exceeding five (5) years. The share of the LGUs shall be progressively
increased until such time that its share becomes equal to that of the
National Government] NATIONAL GOVERNMENT FROM THE AMOUNT
WHICH SHALL BE ALLOCATED FOR THE PURPOSE IN THE ANNUAL
GENERAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT IN ADDITION TO OTHER
SOURCES OF CONTRIBUTIONS AS PROVIDED IN THIS ACT.

THE QUALIFIED INDIGENTS SHALL BE IDENTIFIED BY THE
LOCAL HEALTH INSURANCE OFFICE BASED ON SPECIFIC CRITERIA
SET BY THE CORPORATION AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH (Q) OF
SECTION 4 OF THIS ACT.

SEC. 4. Section 46 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 46. Subsequent Appropriations. — 0%

10x OK XK


TO AUGMENT THE HEALTH INSURANCE FUNDS, AN
ADDITIONAL AMOUNT EQUIVALENT TO FIVE PERCENT (5%) OF THE
RESPECTIVE ANNUAL EARNINGS OF PHILIPPINE AMUSEMENT AND
GAMING CORPORATION (PAGCOR) AND THE PHILIPPINE CHARITY
SWEEPSTAKES OFFICE (PCSO) 1S HEREBY AUTHORIZED TO BE
APPROPRIATED FOR THIS PURPOSE.”

SEC. 5. This Act shall take effect fifteen days (15) days after publication in the
Official Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,