SSS maternity disbursements reach P7-B in 2018, increase in OFW benefits eyed

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Social Security System (SSS) said more than 326,000 female members were assisted by the agency in 2018 with maternity benefit disbursements reaching to around P7 billion, a 15.6 percent increase from over P6.11 billion recorded in 2017.

“We are glad that we are able to assist more of our female members financially during their pregnancy in 2018. We have recorded an increase of 12.6 percent or 36,550 female members more who availed of the benefit in 2018 compared to the previous year,” SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said.

Of the total number of beneficiaries in 2018, 68.2 percent or 222,551 are employee-members with total disbursements amounting to P5.98 billion. Voluntary members followed comprising 25 percent or 81,641 with total disbursements of around P850 million. This is followed by self-employed members with 4.5 percent or 14,692 and Overseas Filipino Worker members with 2.3 percent or 7,429 with total disbursements of around P80 million and P150 million, respectively.

Moreover, SSS maternity benefit disbursements in the first two months of 2019 have already reached P1.34 billion with over 62,000 beneficiaries. “We are expecting that these disbursements will continue to increase this year following the implementation of the 105-day Expanded Maternity Leave Law (EMLL) after the Implementing Rules and Regulations was already signed on Labor Day,” Ignacio said.

The EMLL will push the current 60/78-day paid maternity leave to 105 days for live childbirth, regardless of the mode of delivery, with an additional 15 days for solo mothers and an option for an additional 30 days without pay.

A 60-day paid leave, on the other hand, will be given to a qualified female member in case of miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy. The maternity benefit may be granted regardless of the frequency of deliveries or miscarriage. Further, the current maximum financial assistance of P32,000 will increase to P70,000 based on the P20,000 Monthly Salary Credit.

“SSS is motivated to continuously develop its benefit programs to provide more meaningful assistance to its members,” Ignacio said. “We recognize the needs of mothers and their new-born babies. We hope that through the EMLL, women workers may be able to fully enjoy their rights to health and decent work,” she added.

Ignacio said they are also committed to give Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) higher social security benefits especially during their retirement as it pushes to implement the compulsory coverage of OFWs mandated under Republic Act 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018.

She said the pension fund will exhaust all ways to come out with the guidelines on compulsory OFW coverage.

SSS data showed that as of end-2018, there were 1.14 million registered OFWs in the system, of which around 550,000 were paying members during the year. The pension fund also disbursed an estimated P5.65 billion in benefits to more than 63,000 OFW pensioners and members in 2018, or 89 percent of the P6.37 billion contributions collected from OFWs on the same year.

The pension fund is proposing that all land-based OFWs should pay at least a minimum monthly contribution of P960 which is equivalent to 12 percent of the new minimum monthly salary credit (MSC) for OFWs of P8,000. Even paying only one month of contribution at the new minimum MSC, an OFW-member will get 61 times in return from his contribution or P58,400 in total lump-sum benefits for disability, death or retirement plus funeral grant.

If they opt to pay at the highest MSC of P20,000 or P2,400 monthly contribution, the benefit amount would be P116,000. Sickness benefit of OFW-members will also increase under the new minimum MSC for OFWs. From the previous P150/day, it will increase by 60 percent to P240/day. Maternity benefit will also increase by more than double from P10,000-P13,000 to P28,000 under the Expanded Maternity Leave Law which took effect on March 11.

For retirement benefit, those with 120 qualifying monthly contributions at P8,000 MSC will have a basic monthly pension amounting to P3,200. If they are paying based on the P20,000 MSC, the pension benefit will be P8,000 per month. This shows that the higher the contributions, the higher the benefits.

“We’d like our OFWs to know that membership with SSS is for life. Membership does not expire so all contributions you put in are all accounted for. In case you stopped paying due to work abroad, you can always reactivate your membership by continuing to pay your contribution to become eligible to the seven types of SSS benefits including unemployment insurance. I hope our OFWs will look at SSS contributions as their long-term savings and not an expense burden,” Ignacio said.

Ignacio said that SSS as an implementor of the law will make sure that all provisions under the SS Act of 2018 will be fully realized. At present, SSS has 26 foreign representative offices in 18 countries for OFW member assistance services. (With a report from Mindanao Examiner)

20