The past few months saw quarantine restrictions easing as many Filipinos reunited with family and friends over the holidays. Unfortunately, the Omicron variant also ripped through the country and led to an eye-watering count of new cases per day. If your COVID-19 test reads positive, please be sure to take care of your health first and foremost. To make things easier for you, we’ve listed down some COVID-19 benefits in the Philippines that you may have overlooked.
PhilHealth
The official website indicates the packages available for COVID-afflicted citizens.
Individuals who show COVID-19 pneumatic symptoms and are hospitalized are eligible to apply for the following:
- COVID-19 Mild Pneumonia Benefit Package: PHP 43,997
- COVID-19 Moderate Pneumonia Benefit Package: PHP 143,267
- COVID-19 Severe Pneumonia Benefit Package: PHP 333,519
- COVID-19 Critical Pneumonia Benefit Package: PHP 786,384
Citizens undergoing Home and Community Isolation will be eligible as well to claim PHP 5,917 and PHP 22,449 as compensation, along with the other items in the poster.
According to this 2021 circular, patients who experience moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms but end up testing negative via RT-PCR can also make a claim for the Intermediate Package of Php 18,000 for mild pneumatic symptoms and Php 38,000 for severe pneumatic symptoms.
Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC)
The ECC meanwhile received over 81,000 claims from employees who tested positive for COVID-19. The amount is either Php 10,000 or Php 15,000 – with the former for people who test positive and the latter for relatives of eligible members who succumbed to the disease.
As of now, the ECC has spoken out that they have been delayed in doling out cash benefits due to manpower and budget shortages. Once these are back, leaders at the ECC are proposing a threefold increase for the dole-outs. They plan to resume these as soon as possible (February), so it would be best to be on the lookout for these.
Social Security System (SSS)
SSS CEO Aurora Ignacio announced to the public that the agency will support qualified members with cash assistance programs should they miss income periods due to quarantine.
If a member has made three months of contributions within the year before the infection, then they are automatically qualified with a positive RT-PCR test as proof.
The allowance amount will be calculated as follows: up to 90% of the monthly salary credit is the ADSC. Then multiply the ADSC by 90% again, then the number of days lost due to COVID-19. This will be the allowance the user can claim.
Members have 60 days to submit these to their employers, who in turn are given 60 days as well to turn these documents over to the SSS.
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)
GSIS will also supplement citizens with financial assistance should they experience the pandemic disease. Here are their conditions for claiming the allotment:
GCash Insurance
Other opportunities for easy insurance are also available. GInsure and SingLife have collaborated to provide an insurance program that is mainly for Dengue but covers COVID-19 costs as well.
If you are hospitalized due to the virus, you can claim up to PHP 421,500 depending on the severity of the disease. All these packages for an individual cost less than Php 1,000 annually.
These are just some of the COVID-19 benefits you can avail of in the Philippines. We’ll keep you posted if there are any developments on this end.
