House rep says Senate version of healthcare workers’ benefits bill needs ‘closer look’
A PARTY-LIST representative called on the Senate to reconsider its version of a bill on healthcare workers’ benefits, particularly provisions covering community-level frontliners.
“The House Bill covers all public health emergencies, not just COVID while the language of the Senate bill is specific to the COVID pandemic,” BHW Rep. Angelica Natasha Co said in a statement on Wednesday.
House Bill 10701 or the Health Care Workers Act has been submitted for plenary approval while its upper chamber counterpart, Senate Bill 2421, was approved on second reading Tuesday.
The proposed law seeks to provide healthcare workers with benefits during a national health crisis such as the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Ms. Co said she sent a letter to Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara on Monday to appeal for the inclusion of barangay health workers (BHW) in the Senate version, noting that BHWs are not included in the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers as they are considered volunteers and not legally eligible to benefits given to other medical workers.
Under the two bills, health care workers will receive a special risk allowance ranging from P3,000 to P9,000, depending on the identified risk level in the area of deployment.
Ms. Co also sought clarification on the retroactive clause in the Senate version, which will make the benefits applicable, if the bill is passed into law, from July 1, 2021. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan
