Press Briefing by Sec Lacierda w/ Usec Herbosa & PhilHealth Pres. Banzon, 19 July 2012

Register Online and Be A PhilHealth Member

You may now register online using PhilHealth's Online Services - Electronic Registration System located at this link. Online registration was introduced in the release of PhilHealth Circular No. 05 s-2012.

Requirements (Things you need to prepare)

Scanned copy of your supporting documents (jpeg/jpg, bmp, png, gif or pdf). Size for each file should not be greater than 2MB.
- for employed members, you would need the scanned ER2 with signature from your employer.
- you and your dependents' birth certificates
- marriage contract for married individuals

You may also choose to mail the necessary supporting documents, however, your application can only be processed once they are received.

Process:

1. Click on this link-> Register Online to directly take you to PhilHealth's registration facility.
2. Click the Proceed button.
3. Click the "I agree to the conditions stated above and will comply to submit the required information and supporting documents to complete the registration." 
4. Click the Accept button.
5. Enter all the required information denoted by the asterisk (*) sign. Guardian information is required for principal members whose age is less than 18 yrs old. For employers registering their employees, you can specify the email address of the employees. You can simply ask the employees to forward the email of Philhealth for their issued PhilHealth number. If you used only one email address, employees would need to update their email addresses directly with PhilHealth for future correspondences. Tip: Use your current personal email address and encode your name as appearing in your birth certificate.
6. Click the Submit Registration button. An email will be sent to the email address you specified during registration.
7. PhilHealth will be processing the online applications and when the finished, an email indicating the PhilHealth number assigned to you will be sent.

You can claim your PhilHealth ID in any PhilHealth office near you. For individually paying members, upon receipt of your issued PhilHealth number, you can immediately start paying your monthly premium contributions.

PhilHealth launches new electronic innovations

Health Secretary Dr. Enrique Ona, PhilHealth President Dr. Eduardo Banzon, and PhilHealth CIO Dr. Alvin Marcelo at e-Innovations launch.

PhilHealth has recently updated the way it delivers services to its clients via its website. These include:

• A new, refreshed look for it's corporate website;
• An online mapping service (allows clients to view the location of all PhilHealth branches and accredited health care providers);
• Electronic registration;
• A new Health Insurance Card;
• An online method of determining member eligibility.

We will be providing more information about these improvements as we learn about them. For further details, you may read PhilHealth's news release here.

Preparing the PhilHealth Employer's Remittance Report (RF-1) using the PPRS

The PhilHealth Premium Remittance System (PPRS) is a stand-alone application that is being distributed by PhilHealth since 1999. The system is designed in such a way as to facilitate the payment and generation of the RF-1 Remittance Report of the employers in a softcopy or text format. This post is intended to give you a bit more information on the PPRS as another reporting scheme.

Advantages in using the PPRS:

• Security enabled features which include user accounts to access the functionality of the system as well as system roles to determine which modules/functionalities may be accessible for a given type of user account;
• Facilitates preparation of reports for multiple employers;
• Printing of the RF-1 hardcopy, M5 summary and a transmittal list;
• Provides utilities such as backup of the database, restoration of database, management of users, employee transfers and others;
• Prepare the remittance report in advance prior payment so as to easily determine the actual payment to be made;
• Captures monthly remittance and report generation;
• Ease in updating the compensation bracket for the employer and employee share;
• Automatic computation of the bracket based on compensation/salary defined in the employee profile.

Disadvantages:

• There is minimal support being provided for the system;
• PhilHealth no longer provides updates to the functionality or enhancement of the system.
• Although the system can generate the remittance report monthly in text file format the old RF-1 layout is being used in the hardcopy.

Though no further updates are being provided by PhilHealth, the system is still considered as an option for the generation of the remittance report in softcopy or text format. If you wish to download an installer of the application click here. To download the User Manual click here.

The system is for those who are not at ease in using the Excel format or hardcopy, employers that see the need to have a back-up of their remittance reports, those who are not able to use the Electronic Premium Reporting System (EPRS) or those who do not have the capability or resources to develop a system to aid in the preparation of their remittance report.

Employers: Enroll under the Electronic Payment Scheme (ePAY)

The Electronic Payment System (EPS) also known as ePay is a mechanism introduced by PhilHealth since 2004 to allow the employers to remit their premium payments and submit a softcopy format of the Employer Remittance Report (RF-1) electronically through the accredited bank's online facility.

With this method employers must first prepare the remittance report and upload the report using the bank's online facility, after which the bank facility shall automatically deduct the total amount of premium to be paid from the bank account of the employer. PhilHealth will then download the remittance report submitted through the bank's online facility and process the report for posting of individual contributions. Through this facility, underremittance or overremittance will be minimized as the bank's system ensures that the correct total contribution amount will be deducted from the employer's bank account as payment to PhilHealth.

How to enroll under this scheme:

1. The employer should have its own PhilHealth Employer Number (PEN).

2. The employer must have an account in the ePay accredited bank.

3. The employer should conform to the layout of the RF1 softcopy. (Employers would need to contact the nearest PhilHealth Office for the guidelines on softcopy reporting.)

4. The employer needs to directly register with the ePay accredited bank.

The accredited banks implementing the ePay are:

1. Union Bank of the Philippines (OneHub)

2. Bank of the Philippine Islands (ExpressLink)

3. Citibank (CitiConnect)

4. Security Bank (Digibanker)

You have to go to the corresponding banks to enroll and you will be provided with an online user account that you would need to access their system. Additional banks may be registered under the ePay so stay tuned to this blog as we will post updates once new banks are enrolled.

Prepare and Submit the PhilHealth Employer Remittance Report (RF1) Online using the Electronic Premium Reporting System (EPRS)

A new reporting scheme has been launched on October 1, 2010 enabling the online preparation and submission of the Employer’s Remittance Report (RF1) by using the Electronic Premium Reporting System (EPRS). The availability of the online reporting scheme was announced under Circular No. 30, s-2010 published on October 28, 2010 in the PhilHealth website.

The EPRS is a web-based application which facilitates not only the posting of individual premium contributions but also the assignment of the PhilHealth Identification Number (PIN) for unregistered members.

There are three (3) major advantages in using this scheme:

1. Facilitates the assignment of PhilHealth Identification Numbers (PIN) to unregistered NHIP members.

2. Faster posting of employee contributions as the report directly prepared by the employer will be automatically posted in the PhilHealth database upon PhilHealth validation.

3. Ensures that the total contributions of the report would tally with the actual payment made as the report will be prepared prior payment of contributions.

Requirements in using the EPRS:

1. The reporting employer should have its own PhilHealth Employer Number (PEN). The PEN will be issued to the employer once the employer registers with PhilHealth.

2. The employer should be directly remitting or paying to any PhilHealth office.

3. The period and amount of the report being prepared and that reflected in the receipt should be the same.

The employer would need to be trained in using the web-based application. You will be required to fill-out a PhilHealth Online Access Form (POAF). The user account will be electronically sent in the email address you specified in the form so be sure to provide a valid and active email address. To request for the training schedule, contact any PhilHealth office near you.

I just hope that this will be the starting point of PhilHealth in providing an easier means to access their services and that the infrastructure of PhilHealth is capable in maintaining this facility.