How to Update Your Membership Record with PhilHealth

In our previous post, we discussed about the instances on when to update our membership record with PhilHealth and its importance. Here we will discuss the procedure and required documents to update your membership record.

Steps in updating your member record:

1. Fill-out the PhilHealth Membership Registration Form (PMRF);
2. Submit the PMRF with attached supporting documents to any PhilHealth Office near you;
3. Validate that the changes requested have been correctly reflected in your newly released Member Data Record (MDR);
4. For correction/change in your name, ensure that you are issued a new PhilHealth ID Card (PIC) reflecting the corrected/updated name.

Accomplishing the PMRF:

• Accurately write your PhilHealth Identification Number (PIN) in the form;
• Put a check mark in the "For Updating" under the PURPOSE;
• Write your name and date of birth. This will be used by PhilHealth to verify the member record retrieved using the PIN. If purpose is for correction of your name, write your correct name;
• Write the necessary information that you would need to update or correct, there is no need to provide all the information in the form. If you are going to update your address, just write in the address portion, to register new dependents, just write your dependent's information and so on;
• Affix your signature and write the date the form was accomplished.

Documents that are normally being required:

• ID card/s issued by a government official authority;
• Birth Certificate for correction on member's/dependent's name or date of birth and/or for declaring of new dependents;
• Marriage Certificate or Contract / Affidavit of Marriage issued by Office of Muslim Affairs to update your civil status, change your last name (for females) and/or to declare your spouse as a dependent.

Other documentary requirements can be found in the second page of the PMRF.

Cases for Amending or Updating Your PhilHealth Records

As PhilHealth Members, it is your responsibility to ensure that your information recorded in PhilHealth's database is up-to-date and accurate. If you want to know how to go about updating your information then read on.

When should you update your information?

• Correction in member profile
If you are issued a Member Data Record (MDR), immediately validate the accuracy of the reflected information. If you find that there is a discrepancy in your name, date of birth or any other information, you should amend or update your record immediately;


• Correction in dependent's profile
This can also be checked in the MDR. Check whether the name and date of birth of your declared dependents have been accurately recorded by PhilHealth as this might become a problem in availment of benefits;


• Change in address
If you relocated to another residence or address, immediately amend your PhilHealth record. It is important for PhilHealth to have your current address as notices/letters are being mailed based on your location registered in PhilHealth;


• Change in civil or marital status
PhilHealth will require a copy of your marriage certificate, or Affidavit of Marriage issued by the Office of the Muslim Affairs, or annulment papers in order to effect the change in your last name. You should also request for a new PhilHealth ID Card and MDR.
Males should likewise update their membership record to reflect the change in civil status and to include their spouse as a dependent;


• Change in membership category
For separated employees wishing to continue their coverage with PhilHealth, they should amend their record to be under the Individually Paying Member category (refer to this post for distinction between Professional and Non-Professional). The premium amount that you will be required to pay would depend on your membership category, so it is important for you to update it;


• Adding new dependents
If you wish to include your parents, spouse or child/ren under your PhilHealth coverage, they should be registered with PhilHealth as your dependents. For guidance on the declaration of dependents you may refer to this post. Siblings however cannot be declared as a dependent.

There are instances when you will no longer be required to go to PhilHealth in order to update your PhilHealth MDR. Among them are:

• If your member profile reflected in Claim Form 1 (CF1) is different from your membership record, PhilHealth will use the information contained in the CF1 to update your membership record. (Pursuant to PhilHealth Circular No. 08 s-2007);

• For the employed sector, if you are reported as a newly hired employee, then your membership category will automatically be updated to Private/Government depending on your company type. For separated employees, your membership record will reflect that you are already separated from the company. Those who transferred from another company, your record will display the new company. These information shall be captured using the Employer Remittance Report (RF-1). (Pursuant to PhilHealth Circular No. 13 s-2010);

• Retiring employees in the private/government institutions will be covered as Lifetime Members provided that the member is at least 60 years of age, has met the 120 monthly contributions and that their employer facilitated their enrolment at least three months prior to the date of retirement. (Pursuant to PhilHealth Circular No. 28, s-2010.

However, it is still recommended that you to check your current MDR so that any further discrepancies can be immediately amended. To know how to amend / update your membership information click here.

Is PhilHealth violating our privacy?

We have received word from some of our sources that PhilHealth intends to provide a copy of their membership database to other government agencies. A memo was recently issued by the President of PhilHealth directing all their regional offices to extract the membership information and distribute it to other institutions.

Just what constitutes the membership database anyway? Basically all the information that you wrote down in your membership form is included in the membership database. This includes your address, telephone number, gender, date of birth, your dependents, civil status and your employer. We as members do not appreciate our personal information being given away to just anyone without our knowledge or permission as it violates our privacy and it is no different from giving away our identities to a strangers.

As a registering agency, PhilHealth should ensure the safety and appropriate use of the information they capture. If sharing this information is indeed necessary, wouldn't it be wise to have a non-disclosure agreement with the other party to ensure that only the right information will be provided to external parties and that the information will only be used for the purposes intended, nothing more and nothing less? In other companies, information is treated securely which is why information is protected from being leaked outside. Why then would PhilHealth be giving out their database, more so, our personal information without the necessary precautions?

We are not saying that data sharing is a bad thing. Given that it's supposed to be a straight government to government agreement, there is nothing irregular with sharing the membership data as long as there are reassurances that the data will not be copied by parties outside the government where it can be abused. Due diligence to protect our data should be ensured.

Just to be clear, we are just saying that PhilHealth should only provide information that is necessary to accomplish the goals it sets with other entities and that such information should be guarded via non-disclosure agreements to prevent unscrupulous parties misusing our personal information. They should, specify in writing, what information is to be shared, the parameters of how the information is to be used, and an assurance that the data will not be shared with outsiders.

In this day and age, knowledge is power. PhilHealth ought to be careful whom they trust our personal information with.

We just hope that PhilHealth takes the proper precautions before agreeing to distribute the data.