On February 22, 2019, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 11228 known as “An Act Providing For The Mandatory Philhealth Coverage For All Persons With Disability (PWDs), Amending For The Purpose Republic Act No. 7277, As Amended, Otherwise Known As The “Magna Carta For Persons With Disability”. R.A. 11228 was sponsored by Senator Risa N. Hontiveros in the Senate.
R.A. 11228 amended Republic Act 7277 (R.A. 7277 – Magna Carta for Disabled Persons) by adding a new section, Section 20A which provides that “All person with disability (PWDs) shall be automatically covered under the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).“
With the automatic enrollment in Philhealth of all PWDs, as provided for under R.A 11228, the national government shall pay for the contributions of all persons with disability. For the employed PWDs, the national government will be paying the employee’s share, while their employers will pay for the other half.
The funding for the implementation of the law will be taken from the National Health Insurance Fund of PhilHealth earmarked from the proceeds of R.A. No. 10351, otherwise known as ‘An Act Restructuring the Excise Tax on Tobacco Products.’
Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of R.A. 11228 will be spearheaded by the Department of Health in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Labor and Employment, National Council on Disability Affairs, the local government units and other non-government organizations.
Phil Health, together with the abovementioned agencies, shall promulgate the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the newly enacted law within three months upon its effectivitiy.
The law was published in the Official Gazette on March 4, 2019 and shall take effect fifteen days thereafter. You can view or download the full text of R.A. 11228 below:
Republic Act No. 11228 – Mandatory Philhealth Coverage For All PWDs
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