Understanding the Kasambahay Law (Part 4): Philhealth Registration
This is a continuation of my previous posts in our quest to understand and comply with the implementing rules and regulation of the Batas Kasambahay.
Understanding the Kasambahay Law Part 1 - Implementing Rules and Regulations and QA released by DOLE, NSO birth certificate
Understanding the Kasambahay Law Part 2 - Guide to SSS Registration as a Household Employer and for the Household Helpers
Understanding the Kasambahay Law Part 3 - SSS Payment of Contributions and Submission of Contributions Collection List
Registration
I have been meaning to complete our Philhealth Registration by end of August but Maring and Habagat caused much hassle (flood!), work backlog and delays.
I initially thought we can register our household helpers as Individually Paying Members, so we processed the registration of one of them online through www.philhealth.gov.ph.
We accessed the eRegistration facility which enables individuals to register online. Be ready with the following:
1 - email address that you can use
2 - scanned (soft copy) of the birth certificate of the household helper and other documentary requirements if she is married or if she wants to declare her parents or child as dependents
*For a complete list of the documentary requirements, you may refer to page 2 of the Philhealth Member Registration Form (PMRF).
As an alternative, supporting documents can be sent through postal mail service but the application will not be processed until Philhealth receives the documents.
The information required online are the same as that in the manual registration. If your household helper is less than 18 years old, the guardian should certify that information provided are true and correct.
Once you have completed the form, you will receive an email to inform you of your transaction number. To inquire about the status of your application, you may email member.ncrsouth@philhealth.gov.ph of NCR South (Las Pinas) with the subject Online Registration Inquiry and the Transaction No.
We received confirmation of the successful registration 12 days after together with a soft copy of the Member Data Form (MDR). It would have been a very convenient alternative if processing did not take more than 3 days.
Rather than wait for another 12 days processing for our other household helper, I asked if the husband could just go to Philhealth for manual registration. This is also so that we can fully comply with the requirements of the Kasambahay Law by registering as an employer.
To do that, I filled out 2 copies of the following forms (with downloadable links to the Philhealth Website):
Our household helpers filled out the PMRF Philhealth Member Registration Form - one for updating and the other one for enrollment.
We attached photocopies of their birth certificates.
Payment and Reporting
Since the salary of our household helpers are less than P5,000, we are required to shoulder their share in the monthly contribution. Therefore, we have to pay P175 for each or a total of P350 per month.
Please see below Philhealth Contribution Table for your reference. You may also access it via the Philhealth website.
Premium Contribution Table
| Salary Bracket | Salary Range | Salary Base | Total Monthly Premium | Employee Share | Employer Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Employee share represents half of the total monthly premium while the other half is shouldered by the employer. | |||||
| 1 | 7,999.99 and below | 7,000.00 | 175.00 | 87.50 | 87.50 |
| 2 | 8,000.00 - 8,999.99 | 8,000.00 | 200.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
| 3 | 9,000.00 - 9,999.99 | 9,000.00 | 225.00 | 112.50 | 112.50 |
| 4 | 10,000.00 - 10,999.99 | 10,000.00 | 250.00 | 125.00 | 125.00 |
| 5 | 11,000.00 - 11,999.99 | 11,000.00 | 275.00 | 137.50 | 137.50 |
| 6 | 12,000.00 - 12,999.99 | 12,000.00 | 300.00 | 150.00 | 150.00 |
| 7 | 13,000.00 - 13,999.99 | 13,000.00 | 325.00 | 162.50 | 162.50 |
| 8 | 14,000.00 - 14,999.99 | 14,000.00 | 350.00 | 175.00 | 175.00 |
| 9 | 15,000.00 - 15,999.99 | 15,000.00 | 375.00 | 187.50 | 187.50 |
| 10 | 16,000.00 - 16,999.99 | 16,000.00 | 400.00 | 200.00 | 200.00 |
| 11 | 17,000.00 - 17,999.99 | 17,000.00 | 425.00 | 212.50 | 212.50 |
| 12 | 18,000.00 - 18,999.99 | 18,000.00 | 450.00 | 225.00 | 225.00 |
| 13 | 19,000.00 - 19,999.99 | 19,000.00 | 475.00 | 237.50 | 237.50 |
| 14 | 20,000.00 - 20,999.99 | 20,000.00 | 500.00 | 250.00 | 250.00 |
| 15 | 21,000.00 - 21,999.99 | 21,000.00 | 525.00 | 262.50 | 262.50 |
| 16 | 22,000.00 - 22,999.99 | 22,000.00 | 550.00 | 275.00 | 275.00 |
| 17 | 23,000.00 - 23,999.99 | 23,000.00 | 575.00 | 287.50 | 287.50 |
| 18 | 24,000.00 - 24,999.99 | 24,000.00 | 600.00 | 300.00 | 300.00 |
| 19 | 25,000.00 - 25,999.99 | 25,000.00 | 625.00 | 312.50 | 312.50 |
| 20 | 26,000.00 - 26,999.99 | 26,000.00 | 650.00 | 325.00 | 325.00 |
| 21 | 27,000.00 - 27,999.99 | 27,000.00 | 675.00 | 337.50 | 337.50 |
| 22 | 28,000.00 - 28,999.99 | 28,000.00 | 700.00 | 350.00 | 350.00 |
| 23 | 29,000.00 - 29,999.99 | 29,000.00 | 725.00 | 362.50 | 362.50 |
| 24 | 30,000.00 - 30,999.99 | 30,000.00 | 750.00 | 375.00 | 375.00 |
| 25 | 31,000.00 - 31,999.99 | 31,000.00 | 775.00 | 387.50 | 387.50 |
| 26 | 32,000.00 - 32,999.99 | 32,000.00 | 800.00 | 400.00 | 400.00 |
| 27 | 33,000.00 - 33,999.99 | 33,000.00 | 825.00 | 412.50 | 412.50 |
| 28 | 34,000.00 - 34,999.99 | 34,000.00 | 850.00 | 425.00 | 425.00 |
| 29 | 35,000.00 and up | 35,000.00 | 875.00 | 437.50 | 437.50 |
The premiums shall be remitted to Philhealth or at any accredited collecting bank/agent or or before the 10th day of the month following the month being paid for, using the Philhealth Premium Payment Slip.
Employers may also avail of E-pay service for payment of premiums but I think at the moment, this option is only available to corporate employers. The customer representative from Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) said they currently don't have e-payment facility for Philhealth for Household Employers. Hassle!
To facilitate posting of payments, the household employer is required to report the remittances using the Remittance Report Form (RF-1) on or before the 15th of the month following the applicable month. The RF-1 shall be filed with respective Philhealth Office or drop in boxes located in selected accredited banks. I plan to drop by BPI this week to check this out.
Payments can also be reported in text file format using the Electronic Premium Reporting System. Will try to apply online for this as soon as we have our Philhealth Employer Number.
What's Up?
The Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10361 (Domestic Workers Act or Batas Kasambahay) required the SSS, Pag-ibig and Philhealth to develop a unified system of registration and enrollment, which would be of great convenience to us household employers once implemented.
I gathered from the DOLE website that the Unified Registration System was supposed to have been rolled out two weeks from August 9, 2013 but so far, nothing has been released to the public.
Based on the press release:
The URS will be a standard and unified regsistration procedure to facilitate the seamless transactional environment for the registration of domestic workers with Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth, and the SSS.
Under the URS, there will be only three one-page forms to be used. These are the Household Employer Unified Registration Form, Kasambahay Unified Registration Form, and the Household Employment Unified Report Form. But under the system, the three agencies shall maintain their respective ID numbering system, hence, the employer and the kasambahay will be issued three different ID numbers until such time that a common ID issuance system is developed and adopted.
It would really be of much help if this is released soon.
Next post will be on HDMF Registration.
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