Solo Parents, Your PhilHealth Share Can Now Be Fully Covered—Here’s How

(SPOT.ph) While it takes a village to raise a child, it takes just as much support for a working solo parent who plays the roles of both household provider and primary caretaker. That’s why any help with managing household finances goes a long way.

Good news for employed single moms and dads: Starting this October, qualified solo parents can stop paying the employee share of their PhilHealth premiums—as long as their membership record has been updated.

Under the new PhilHealth circular published on September 26, the government will now subsidize the employee share of PhilHealth deductions for working solo parents, while employers will continue to pay the other half.

Typically, PhilHealth premiums are equivalent to 5% of your monthly basic salary under the Universal Health Care Law: half is paid for by your employer, while the other half is taken out of your salary. For someone earning a basic salary of P20,309 a month—the 2024 average cited by the Philippine Statistics Authority—that employee share comes out to about P508 a month or roughly P6,093 a year. That’s money that could be going to other household expenses.

The catch: You and your dependents must be registered under the Solo Parent Office (SPO) or Solo Parent Division (SPD) of your local government unit and have a valid Solo Parent Identification Card (SPIC). PhilHealth requires the SPIC as primary proof that you are a qualified solo parent.

Also read: GUIDE: How to Get a Solo Parent ID

If your solo-parent status hasn’t been updated in PhilHealth’s system yet, you may need to update your membership record first.

You must accomplish the PhilHealth Member Registration Form and attach a copy of the front and back portions of your valid SPIC to your company’s human resources department. Your employer will then submit these, along with its own certification, to PhilHealth.

You can also submit the documents yourself directly to your nearest PhilHealth office or through the PhilHealth Member Portal. From there, PhilHealth will update your membership to reflect your status as a solo parent.

Do note that a valid SPIC is mandatory to get the subsidy. If your card is expiring soon, you must inform PhilHealth and renew it before it expires so your status isn’t automatically reverted to another membership classification.

Solo parents and their dependents can receive PhilHealth benefits under the Universal Healthcare Act like the YAKAP package and existing No Co-payment/No Balance Billing programs. However, if your solo-parent status has not yet been updated in PhilHealth’s system, your usual employee contribution will still be deducted in the meantime.

Also read: GUIDE: How to Apply for PhilHealth YAKAP to Get Free Check-Ups, Lab Tests + P20K in Meds