House bill eyes health insurance coverage for public school teachers

MANILA, Philippines – A bill mandating the Department of Education (DepEd) to provide government school teachers with health insurance coverage was filed at the House of Representatives.

Quezon City Rep. Patrick Michael Vargas said his measure, House Bill No. 10984, seeks to give teachers an added safeguard against emergency medical costs beyond the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and cut their out-of-pocket expenses.

“As part of our commitment to valuing teachers, we must take care of their health and remove the burden of medical expenses should they fall ill,” he said in a statement.

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He said his bill would require DepEd to procure health maintenance packages through public bidding and negotiate higher‑than‑normal coverage for nearly a million teachers by leveraging the contract’s scale.

“This will give teachers higher benefit limits, free hospital stays, doctor check-ups, and coverage for pre-existing conditions across accredited hospitals nationwide,” Vargas’ statement said.

Public school teachers currently receive P7,000 in annual medical allowance under Executive Order No. 64 and DepEd Order No. 16. Though the Quezon City lawmaker said that amount falls short “when serious illnesses and hospitalizations occur.” /jpv