Claiming Benefits from Government & Private Insurers: a Bane?

Membership to a lot of insurance bodies is mandatory in most agencies, especially in the government. For private companies and corporations, we have the SSS or Social Security Service as the government insurer for workers and employers. For government, we have the Government Service Insurance System. We also have PAGIBIG that promote savings and enhance housing accessibility for Filipino workers.

From a fledgling IT systems, these offices did their best to integrate with updated technology. Many still remain wanting, but so far, as many would say, "pwede na". Like many government agencies, the intervention of face-to-face (F2F) services still exist. But some are as cryptic as the shady management that runs them.

For instance, teachers still claim to have been had of their GSIS loans (they suddenly have loans even if they did not file any! Others like the PNP experience non-stop deductions from their salaries, while others were claimed to have not fully paid their loans yet despite the long lapse of agreed upon payment period. In other words, may natira pa raw silang balance sa utang nila!)

GSIS is fraught with irregularities. Many pensioners are deprived of their other benefits, and the question is: sino ang nakikinabang.

For the information of all, there is an expiry of claiming death benefits, majority is up to 2 years upon death of the member insured.

The Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association, Inc. or AMWSLAI and Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loans Association, Inc. AFPSLAI are other membership  private, non-stock and non-profit savings and loan association  with membership benefits including death. Like GSIS and SSS, they also require many documents, one of which we are posting here. We received complaints from claimants of never-ending or chain of requirements which the agencies' staff inform claimants in piecemeal, or every visit making it seemed endless, until such time that boom! the grace period is over! And claimants are done with their claims. 

One claimant shared that they went back to the branch several times,  with each visit requiring additional documents due to "insurance" requirements. "We were shocked upon receiving the twelve thousand pesos total when in fact, the first time we visited, they said that the member had some 17,000 pesos in his savings! It did not even cover the cost of going back and forth at the PSA for their documentary requirements," the claimant said of one AMWSLAI experience.

A GSIS claimant also shared when seen getting mad in a branch "Bigla na lang akong nagkautang, e, first time ko sanang mag-file ng loan!"

One Pagibig member claimed they tried the ALMS program for a very sick member of the family. The illness was not nearly fatal enough to merit benefit claims.

Another said that their deductions were not reflected in their paid total. One pensioner also said, "GSIS deducted almost a million pesos from my lumpsum. Ayaw pa nilang ipa-re-compute ko, pinaikot-ikot nila ako, then, finally, one of the staff, probably the only honest guy at the office that time, helped me. But it took more than 90 days, the prescribed length of dispute, to solve the problem. Nag-file pa ako ng reklamo sa Civil Service Commission at nag-post muna sa social media bago nila in-action'an," the claimant said.

The AFPSLAI's Mr. Armand Juele kindly provided an explanation as to why claim document requirements changes or gets updated  every visit.

 

One of the disadvantages of filing complaints, however, at CSC, is that one needs to do the whole shebang of going to a lawyer to prepare your full complaint, (of course producing the evidences is a must on the part of the complainant), among others despite the CSC's mandate that a formal subscribed complaint may not be necessary. And we still need to see impactful CSC cases, unless, these are deliberately kept away from the public and the information super highway.

Going to PAO to ask assistance is another challenge as the lawyers, too, are overwhelmed with cases and themselves needing competent legal assistants (more than those parasitic legislative offices!). The 8888 email no longer accepts complaints. And when it comes to the office of the president, surprise, surprise! Atty. Claire Castro and her team have no email!

 

We hope that the changes do not only apply with AFPSLAI but more importantly, to all government agencies that should be helping our government workers. So, if you have a plan to visit these offices, to avoid difficulties meeting the requirements, ask during the first time all required documents. Call their listed phones (goodluck!) to inquire if there are any, to avoid unnecessary and unfruitful visits!