Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte has filed a bill granting “junior citizens” automatic and free Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) coverage.
House Bill (HB) 8312 defines junior citizens as Filipinos under 12 years old.
“Government support for our young citizens is imperative, especially during their formative years, in order for them to grow up into fully equipped adult citizens…This is especially important to children from disadvantaged areas, where access to healthcare services is low or limited to private institutions,” said Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party (NUP).
In addition to mandatory PhilHealth coverage, the bill also proposed that junior citizens belonging to families with annual incomes of less than P250,000 each shall be entitled to more benefits, including free medical and dental services and laboratory fees in government health facilities, the measure said.
“These families will also enjoy a 20 percent discount and Value Added Tax (VAT)-exemption on medical plus dental services, and laboratory and professional fees in private hospitals and clinics,” Villafuerte said.
The bill also provides that junior citizens from “poor and low-income families” shall also be entitled under Villafuerte’s bill to free pediatric vaccinations available at the Department of Health (DOH), and a 20 percent discount and VAT-exemption on the purchases by their parents or guardians of their medicines and milk supplements.
Under HB.8312, the 20 percent discount and VAT-free privileges of junior citizens from low-income families also applies to the admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert hall, circuses, leisure and amusement; and the funeral and burial services for junior citizens who passed away.
Villafuerte said his bill aims to ease the financial burden of poor or low-income parents as the bill aims to provide these benefits to families whose annual income is below P250,000.
“Our country is working in caring for our mothers and their newborns, with the Congress strengthening this intent even more through meaningful legislation,” Villafuerte said. “The worry, however, is that focus on healthcare is stuck on the first 1,000 days of the child.”
