A CONGRESSMAN reiterated on Sunday that children should also be given discounts to medical and dental services.
“Government support for our young citizens is imperative, especially during their formative years, in order for them to grow up into fully equipped adult citizens,” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte said in House Bill No. 8312.
“This is especially important to children from disadvantaged areas, where access to healthcare services is low or limited to private institutions,” he said.
Under the proposed Junior Citizens Act, children whose family income is less than P250,000 is entitled to a 20% discount and value-added tax (VAT) exemption on medical and dental check-ups, medicines, vaccines.
“This benefit given to junior citizens extends to professional fees of physicians in private hospitals and of home healthcare service providers,” Mr. Villafuerte said.
The proposed discount and VAT exemption also applies to hospital and outpatient services like diagnostics and laboratory fees, as well as funeral and burial services.
Entrance fees for leisure and amusement sites like concerts and cinemas can also be given discount and VAT exemption, Mr. Villafuerte said.
The bill also seeks to make children automatic members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) until they reach the age of 12.
The measure, which was filed in May, is pending at the Committee on Welfare of Children.
The Philippines is ranked 5th globally for the most number of zero-vaccine children or children who have not received a single vaccine, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported in 2021.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that only 48% of Filipino infants have been vaccinated, with pneumonia causing approximately 31,000 deaths among children under five years old in 2022. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
