This is a strange time to be traveling in the Philippines. Apparently two days ago a protest began. Hurray for my great timing?? It lasts from July 20th to July 25th.
The protest involves Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are facing a steep increase in the amount they pay for health insurance. The facebook page OFW Voices is trying to get over 1 million likes.
Being in a different country when a protest begins is a new experience. Because this is currently a social media protest I do not feel my wife and I are in any danger. But it is still awkward.
Because I am an outsider, I am not even sure of the amount of the increase… although I do understand it is ridiculously high. One source I found said 150-percent, and another source listed the increase as 167-percent. Either way that is a huge increase for a health insurance premium. For those who are not familiar, Overseas Filipino Workers already pay remittances to the Filipino government for any salary they earn in another country.
In America people are already upset about paying for Obamacare. I cannot imagine what people would do if it went up 150-percent!
i also don’t agree with Philhealth, it is run as a business raethr than give service to the people…it aims to squeeze the public dry in service of the public or private hospitals’ revenues…did you know that there are reportsthat Philhealth’s disbursements have largely gone to private hospitals and not to public hospitals, kawawa ang mga mahihirap na ang option ay public hospitalsand lastly limited din naman ang benefits from Philhealth, its members still spend from their own pockets for their medical needs…if you have the money go for private health insurance na lang wala tayong maaasahan sa gobyerno lalo’t it is firm in its policy for budget cut in health and other social service