CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Employees in the private and public sectors who suffer work-related sickness and injuries may now avail of the bigger amount of benefits from the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC).
According to ECC Executive Director Stella Zipagan-Banawis, as much as 150 percent increase on various types of sickness benefits is being implemented by the agency to be able to provide responsive and relevant services to Filipino employees.
As early as January 2017, Zipagan-Banawis said the agency already set P1,150 across the board increase of employee compensation (EC) monthly pension to permanent disability pensioners and qualified beneficiaries in the private sector.
This came through after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 54, which addressed ECP’s quest to provide a better compensation benefit package to Filipino workers, Zipagan-Banawis said.
The EO, she added, also hiked the amount of reimbursement for physical therapy sessions under EC medical benefits in the private sector also rose from P65 to maximum P500 per session.
The reimbursement rates for professional fees for physician under EC medical benefits in the private sector has also been increased from P100 for a general practitioner (GP) and P150 for a specialist to P400 per day to GP and P600 for specialists during daily ward visits, and P1600 for GP and P2,400 for specialist per confinement.
For ICU/CCU ward, rates per day is P800 for GP and P1,200 for a specialist, and a maximum of P3,200 for a GP and P4,800 for a specialist per confinement, while out-patient fees increased to P400 for GP and P600 for a specialist; consultation fee for routine pre-procedure and medical evaluation is now P800 for a GP and P1,200 for a specialist; and P1,200 for a GP and P1,400 for a specialist for pre-procedure medical evaluation with medical indication; and P1,200 for GP and P1,400 for specialist during intra-operative monitoring.
Moreover, the temporary total disability (TTD) benefits, which are given to workers who loss of income due to inability to work after a work-related accident, was also hiked from a minimum daily income benefit of P10 to P110, and from a maximum daily income benefit of P200 to P480.
With the new increase, Zipagan-Banawis said a worker who suffers from TTD may now receive a possible maximum amount of P960 per day, which is a combined amount of benefits that can be provided by Social Security System and ECC.
The Carer’s allowance of persons with work-related disabilities (PWRD), which is a supplemental pension provided to EC permanent disability pensioners, also hiked up P1,000 from the original P575 per month, Zipagan-Banawis also noted.
“This new measure is in line with the ECC’s mandate to continuously enhance and upgrade the benefits’ employees may avail under the Employees’ Compensation Program. We have noticed that the benefits we are earlier providing are no longer responsive to the needs of our PWRDs, thus we made sure of its immediate review and now, the implementation of increase, she said.
The ECC is a government agency mandated by law to provide meaningful and appropriate compensation to workers in the private and public sector in the event of work-related contingencies.
As of December 2017, ECC has total assets of P60.82-billion, which can be utilized by its over 28-million members from its 14 regional extension units and one central unit in Metro Manila.