MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) is halfway through distributing the remaining health emergency allowance (HEA) due to healthcare workers who served during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a Senate hearing on Tuesday, September 10, DOH spokesman Albert Domingo said the department has so far given 54% of the P27.453-billion worth of HEA claims left unpaid. The department has been sending these out in batches: P10.1 billion was disbursed in July, P9.8 billion in August, and P4.6 billion in September.
The last tranche of payments worth P2.9 billion is slated for October. This will settle allowances due to workers in Cagayan Valley, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga, Northern Mindanao, Davao, SOCCSKARGEN, and for those working in the central office.
“Hindi kasi kayang biglaang ibigay ng isang buwan lamang (We cannot hand everything out within one month),” Domingo told the joint panel of the Senate committees on health and finance.
In July, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced that it will release the money to cover over 5 million unpaid HEA and 4,283 COVID-19 sickness and death claims of healthcare and non-healthcare workers who served for the country’s pandemic health response.
This was a surprise for the DOH, which had initially requested an allocation in its 2025 budget for the unpaid claims.
It was later revealed that a portion of the controversial P89.9 billion PhilHealth fund transfer covered P20-billion of the government’s HEA balance.
The DOH is in the process of settling its dues to 2,728 healthcare facilities and has so far distributed cheques to 60% or 1,644 facilities.
Domingo pointed out that around 40% are facing delays as they are still finishing documentary requirements. For instance, 25% of the facilities do not have a memorandum of agreement, which is among the requirements for the disbursement of allowance claims.
Meanwhile, 30% of the facilities are still working on their vouchers.
Ronald Ignacio, who represents the United Private Hospital Union, noted some of their member hospitals already have a check for their HEA claims that cannot be released yet pending a liquidation report.
“Ang tapos na sa liquidation, ito po ‘yung sinasabi natin na napakita ba nila ‘yung resibo na pumunta talaga sa ating mga healthworker ‘yung ibinababang pera ng DOH. Ang nakapagbigay lamang po ng liquidation sa 2,728 ay 69%,” Domingo said.
(Those who are done with the liquidation, this is when we say they are able to provide proof that the healthworkers received the payments made by the DOH. Out of the 2,728, those who were able to present a liquidation report were only 69%.)
“Meron hong roughly 30%, tatlo sa bawat sampu ng mga pasilidad, ay hindi pa nakakapagtapos ng liquidation. Kaya alinsunod sa regulasyon ng Commission on Audit ay hindi namin mapagbigyan ng dagdag na pambayad [ng] HEA,” he added.
(There are around 30%, or three out of every ten facilities, who are not yet done with their liquidation reports. So following the regulations set out by the Commission on Audit, we are not able to provide further HEA payments.)
Under Republic Act 11712, healthcare workers will receive an allowance from P3,000 to P9,000 every month, depending on the risk classification of where they are deployed. The law also provides that they will get compensation should they get infected with COVID-19.
Aside from the ongoing distribution, the DOH said it previously disbursed P22.7 billion for HEA claims in 2022, P30.6 billion in 2023, and had allocated P21.9 billion for claims in 2024. – Rappler.com