Mandatory health insurance pushed

Accusing employers of not providing health benefits to their workers, Sen. Juan P. Tenorio said his proposal seeking mandatory insurance coverage is intended to correct loopholes in the existing law, while extending company-sponsored medical care to resident employees.

He vowed to push passage of the bill which is expected to be presented in a public hearing by the Senate Committee on Health, Education and Welfare to seek comments from the people and the private sector.

Called the Commonwealth Mandatory Health Care Act of 1999, Tenorio’s proposal comes amid debate on the Resident Workers Fair Compensation Act, which implementation has hit a snag following disagreement on the implementing guidelines.

The recently-signed law requires employers to grant benefits, including health insurance, to locals either in cash or in kind equivalent to what they provide to guest workers.

According to Tenorio, his proposal will help clarify the intent of existing law stipulating that companies must foot at least half of the medical needs of their employees, including locals.

“This is going to be for everybody,” the senator told in an interview. “The law is loud and clear on the employment of nonresident workers that employers are responsible. for their health insurance.”

But Tenorio accused companies of violating this requirement which is being enforced by labor and immigration department when accepting applications for work permit for nonresident workers.

“We leave it at that but now we are finding out that the employers are not very responsible,” he explained. “The bottomline here is… it means they have to pay it, not you and me as taxpayers.”

The government, however, is subsidizing health care of even nonresident workers because companies violate the law by not providing medical insurance, according to the senator.

“If we treat this like (this saying) ‘no money, no honey,’ it’s that simple,” Tenorio added.

Although the health benefits are stipulated in the contract, he stressed it is “worthless” if the government will not clarify the requirement and impose penalty for violators.

Likewise, extending the benefits to locals will level the playing field. “It’s equitable and it’s fair. We have heard of mistreatment of the nonresident workers, this is a version of mistreatment on the resident workers because they are not protected by their employers in their medical bills,” Tenorio said.

If it becomes a law, it is more than likely that the Commonwealth Health Center could provide better service because it will not be burdened by unpaid medical bills.

“There’s a lot of work to be done on this bill (but)… I would personally urge the (HEW) chairman to expedite the public hearing,” the senator pointed out.