A BILL that seeks to exempt overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from paying premium contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) got a renewed push at the House of Representatives. “This is a corrective measure,” Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre, chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, and co-author of House Bill (HB) 2, said in a statement on Sunday. “Universal health care must be universal in protection, not universal in burden,” he said. “The proposed law of former speaker Romualdez reflects the fact that OFWs contribute far more than their fair share to the economy, sending home remittances, paying taxes, and making sacrifices that keep families and businesses going. Requiring them to pay more for health coverage would be unfair, especially amid mounting global economic challenges,” Acidre said. REINA TOLENTINO Under the bill filed last June 30 by Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez, Tingog Rep. Andrew Julian Romualdez, and Acidre, the government would shoulder half of OFWs’ premium contribution, and the employers would shoulder the other half. The bill is being refined at the technical working group level, the statement said. On Nov. 25, 2025, Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima, Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao, and Albay 1st District Rep. Cielo Krisel Lagman filed HB 6355, which they said in the bill’s explanatory note, “seeks to amend Republic Act No. 11223 to make PhilHealth premium payments voluntary for OFWs.” Republic Act 11223 is the Universal Health Care Act.