Who can Enroll or Register as a PhilHealth Member?

This post aims to discuss the different types of membership programs of the National Health Insurance Program. PhilHealth members are divided into five (5) main categories broken down as follows:

• Employed;
• Individually Paying Members (IPM);
• Sponsored Members;
• Lifetime Members;
• Overseas Filipino Workers.

The Employed category are basically those individuals that are employed either in a private or government institution and are therefore further classified into Private/Government. Individuals under this category are enrolled in PhilHealth through the employers in compliance with the law.

Individuals that are classified under the Individually Paying Member (IPM) are those that are directly paying their premium contributions to PhilHealth and belong to either of the cases below. Participation under this scheme is voluntary.

• Professional individuals are those whose professions are included in this list;
• Non-professional individuals which include individual farmers and fisherfolk;
• Individuals who are separated from work;
• Parents not qualified as legal dependents, sponsored members or lifetime members;
• Children not qualified as legal dependents;
• Unemployed individuals not qualified as a sponsored member;
• Citizens of the Philippines residing in other countries;
• Citizens of other countries (foreigners) residing/or working in the Philippines.

Sponsored members are those who are being paid for by local government units, government agencies or private institutions which fall under the implementation of the government subsidy program. Members under this category are usually covered on a yearly basis. Availment of PhilHealth benefits depends on the effectivity or coverage period as reflected in their membership.

Lifetime members generally covers retirees/pensioners who have reached the retiring age as defined by law and have met the required 120 monthly PhilHealth premium contributions. Individuals under this classification no longer need to be paying members in order for them or their dependents to avail of PhilHealth benefits.

Overseas Filipino Workers (Land-based) were previously under the IPM category. Due to the differences in the needs of the members under this category and the efforts with which these were addressed, PhilHealth decided to separate the monitoring and evaluation of those individuals who are working out of the country, hence a separate category was created. OFWs are required to enroll and pay a one-year premium contribution prior to leaving the country and to continue being an active member, OFWs would need to pay continuously to the program after the expiry of the one-year coverage.

Reference: Title III-Section 5 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the National Health Insurance Act of 1995