TIM eMagazine Vol.1 Issue 3
SSS extends OFWs’
prescriptive period for
sickness notifications
to 35 days
T
he Social Security System (SSS) gave 30
more days to the five-day prescriptive
period for filing sickness notifications of
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for their
illnesses not requiring hospitalization, in
consideration of their limited time and
accessibility to SSS offices while abroad.
Dr. Brenda P. Viola, SSS Officer-in-Charge of the
Medical Services Division, said OFWs previously had
five calendar days from the start of home confinement
to file their sickness notification, and this prescriptive
period is now extended to a total of 35 calendar days.
“For sickness notifications filed past the prescriptive
period, the days of confinement to be covered by SSS
is deemed to start only on the fifth day immediately
prior to the date of filing. Hence, the longer prescriptive
period helps OFWs avoid lower benefit amounts or
rejected claims due to late notifications, as compared
with the previous five-day leeway,” Viola said.
Under the previous SSS policy, if a sick OFW
member was confined at home from June 1 to 15 and
his sickness notification was filed only on June 12, or
one week after the five-day prescriptive period, the
computed sickness benefit would merely cover nine
days from June 7 to 15. With the extended 35-day
prescriptive period, the OFW will be compensated for
the entire 15 days that he was sick given the same date
of filing for the sickness notification and assuming the
benefit claim was filed on time.
Apart from sickness notifications, the SSS also
observes prescriptive periods for filing sickness benefit
claims. For voluntary members such as OFWs, this
prescriptive period is one year from start of illness for
home confinement, and one year from date of discharge
for illnesses with hospital confinement.
OFWs can file their sickness notifications and benefit
claims in person, thru a representative or via mail to
any SSS office in the Philippines or overseas. The SSS
operates foreign representative offices in various OFW
country destinations worldwide: Hong Kong, Macau,
Brunei, Taipei (Taiwan), Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
(Malaysia) in Asia; Riyadh, Al-Khobar and Jeddah
(Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi and Dubai (United Arab
Emirates), Kuwait, Doha (Qatar), Bahrain and Oman in
the Middle East; Rome and Milan (Italy) and London
(United Kingdom) in Europe; and in Toronto (Canada).
The SSS sickness benefit is a daily cash allowance
granted to qualified members confined at home or in
the hospital for at least four days, including the period
for recovery, due to an illness or injury. The number of
compensable days is up to 120 days per calendar year
that can be extended for another 120 days the following
year on account of the same medical condition. Illnesses
or injuries that persist for over 240 days can qualify for
SSS disability benefits.
Viola advised OFWs to file their notifications and
claims on time to ensure that benefits will be paid
for each day of sickness. OFW members can visit the
SSS website (www.sss.gov.ph) for more details on SSS
programs and for downloadable application forms, as
well as join the official SSS Facebook account (https://
www.facebook.com/SSSPh) for SSS updates and
assistance.
“They may also reach the SSS OFW Contact Services
Unit (OFW-CSU) anytime through e-mail at ofw.
[email protected], or through telephone at +632
364-7796 or +632 364-7798 from Mondays to Fridays,
6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Philippine time). Within the year,
we will announce the list of our international toll-free
numbers for the SSS queries of our members based
overseas,” she said.
The state-run SSS has 1.07 million OFW members as
of June 2015, reflecting a nine-percent jump from about
983,000 registered OFWs as of June 2014.
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