21-year olds urged to enroll at PhilHealth
If you are 21 years old and unexpectedly gets hospitalized, you cannot avail of PhilHealth benefits because perhaps you are neither a member nor can be covered under your parents’ PhilHealth.
But still you can personally be covered by PhilHealth if you enroll or shift to Individually Paying program.
Most enrollee in the group are newly graduated professionals who are not yet employed, medical, law and graduate students, seminarians, priests, ministers, media practitioners and self-employed professionals.
Premium is at an affordable rate of P100 per month. After a quarter of membership or in the 4th month thereto, enrollee becomes eligible to avail of PhilHealth benefits for some medical related treatment except for maternity care benefits and certain elected surgical cases, that a sufficient regularity of payments that is, payment of 3-quarters prior confinement is observably required.
Upon application, a prospective member will just present their birth certificate, an original copy to be authenticated by PhilHealth frontline staff. In its absence, presentation of baptismal certificate or any two valid IDs maybe done for registration. Applicant must remit the initial contribution of P300 for the outright issuance of PIN and MDR.
As to the mode and easiness of payment, a member can pay by quarter which has its deadline on the last working day of applicable quarter, or post an advance semi-annual or annual remittance. The member or its representative may opt to pay at any of PhilHealth Service Office, accredited Banks or M.Lhuiller branches within Region VI, as its authorized collecting agents.
Members contracting marriage, can then register his/her spouse to become a dependent and later with the consequent offspring. Only direct family members can be included as dependents, which include parents who are at least 60 years old, provided such dependent is totally dependent from the member for support. (Larry T. Tabsing)