PhilHealth Circular 2020-008: Using the online Electronic Premium Remittance System (EPRS) for Premium Contribution Payments

Business owners are tasked with many responsibilities, among these are to consistently pay for premium remittance and to post their premium contributions. The payment process is straightforward, can take a substantial amount of time due to several factors like physical processing time or bureaucratic red tape.  

To help streamline the process, PhilHealth created its 2020-0008 Circular, which implemented an online facility to the Electronic Premium Remittance System. It was a mandate for the PhilHealth organisation, as way to stay in accordance with the Universal Health Care Act’s order to maintain an updated membership and contribution Database.  

What is online EPRS?  

EPRS online payment is a service that allows business employers to remit their premium contributions online at any time to improve client convenience. It was created to speed up premium payment acknowledgements and posting employer premium contributions.  

PhilHealth anticipates that it will help alleviate dishonored payment transactions and over extended reconciliation statuses in the EPRS due to incorrectly given payment information from the client side.   
 

Guidelines given by circular 2020-0008  

1.) As of June 2020 onwards, employees and their employers must use the online payment facility of EPRS to pay their premium contributions to government and private sectors.  

2.) Employers need to enroll their ERPS account at any Accredited Collecting Agent (ACA) if you want to be able to remit premium payments online. Note that you’ll have to use a gateway/facility interlinked with the EPRS to pay online.  

• You can find a list featuring all accredited collecting agents that have been interlinked with the online payment facility through www.philhealth.gov.ph.  

3.) If an employer’s internet connection doesn’t allow him to comply with the online scheme can request exemption from this policy, provided they file in a request and submit corresponding supporting documents to the Local Insurance office.  

• Additionally, employers won’t need to provide any internet providers for any justifiable reason to request an exemption.  

4.) Family drivers, house maids, and those found in areas classified as Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged (GIDAS) can use cash to over-the-counter pay for their premium contributions at their nearest Local Health Insurance Office (LHIO). However, they are highly encouraged to use EPRS’s online service for their own convenience.   

5.) Employers who cannot maintain Average Daily Balance (ADB) mandated by their ACA can go to other ACAs with lower or no ADB requirement.  

6.) PhilHealth still allows over-the-counter payments for the following situations:  

• System downtimes, especially near deadlines.  
• Paying for adjusted PhilHealth premiums of government employees with salary differentials and step increments. But these need to be paid using list of Due and Demandable Accounts Payable with Advice to Debit Account (LDDAP-ADA) taking into consideration Department of Budget and Management Circular Letter No. 2013-16. 
• To employers with unreported newly hired employees and those with underpayments due to payroll validation and payment of arrears given that it’s supported by a Billing Statement.  

7.) Exempted employers can use cash or Manager’s Check when using over the counter payments to their ACAs and LHIOs.  

8.) To protect personal data from misuse, loss, and unauthorized activities, PhilHealth will not share or transfer the same kind to any third party without the initial subject’s consent. The organisation states its commitment in taking all reasonable precautions to bolster its security and client confidentiality.  

• Lastly, all client personal data will temporarily be kept in accordance with current laws and regulations, once the process is complete all records will be deleted in a safe and secure manner.   

HR Services from Mazars   

Maintaining a global workforce requires expert HR knowledge and specialised processes, this setup incurs challenges that need the best from their departments. Payroll legislation is a highly complex area. With rules and policies so often in flux, processing payroll in-house is often costly and inefficient. Our specialist team offers a flexible way of managing your HR and payroll requirements across the world, feel free to reach out to us. Our team can provide you with core payroll processing services, reporting and related expertise, Payroll/accounting integration, Payroll advisory services, Advisories about HR and global mobility, and international payroll specific project management.   

Learn more about Mazars in the Philippines HERE.