Lawmaker says public school teachers should receive better healthcare.

 

Public school teachers might soon get full health insurance if a new law is approved.

Parañaque 2nd District Representative Brian Raymund Yamsuan filed a bill called House Bill No. 2579, or the "HMO for DepEd Personnel Act." He said this will help teachers stay healthy and strong for their hard work in teaching.

“Teaching is a hard job and can affect a teacher’s health, especially in public schools. That’s why our teachers should get good healthcare anytime they need it, without worrying about the cost,” Yamsuan said.

“A healthy and happy teacher works better and teaches better. This bill, called the HMO for Public School Teachers Act, wants to make sure teachers get full healthcare support, not just now but also in the future,” he added.

In the bill, the Department of Education (DepEd) will work with a health insurance company to give health services to teachers.

All DepEd teachers and workers — no matter if they are permanent, temporary, or working on a short contract — can join the HMO program if they have worked for at least six months.

Section 4 of the bill says: "DepEd will follow the rules of the New Government Procurement Act (Republic Act No. 12009) to get a contract with a health insurance company that will give healthcare services to its workers."

The bill says that each qualified teacher or worker will get up to 7,000 pesos each year to help pay for HMO health services. DepEd will check this amount every 3 years to make sure it is still enough based on current prices.

Yamsuan said this bill supports President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s promise to help fix problems in the country’s education system, including taking care of public school teachers.

In 2025, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) set aside 9.5 billion pesos for workers’ medical allowances.

Yamsuan’s bill also supports DepEd Order No. 016 by Education Secretary Sonny Angara, which gives rules about giving medical allowance to teachers and other school workers.

The lawmaker said this will help teachers get more health benefits, not just from PhilHealth.

“We want public school teachers and DepEd workers to get better and complete healthcare, not just from PhilHealth, but also from the government as a regular and permanent help,” he said.

“Right now, public school teachers do not get the same paid sick leave as other workers. So when they get sick, they have a hard choice: go to work even if they feel bad, which can make them sicker, or stay home without pay, which can hurt their budget and make it hard to pay for medicine. This is not fair, and teachers should not have to go through this,” he added.