Sen. Poe files bill on tax incentives to doctors who gives free services

Senator Grace Poe has filed the Senate Bill No. 1715 or the “Physician Pro Bono Care Act” which seeks to give tax incentives to physicians rendering free services to indigent patients.

Photo credit: philstar.com

Poe said these doctors who provide pro-bono healthcare services at their direst deserve recognition and incentives.

“A number of doctors have taken it upon themselves to volunteer and render free health services to our people who cannot afford to seek medical attention,” Poe said.

"The tax incentive is a way of giving back for their selflessness, commitment and expertise,” Poe stressed.

“This bill recognizes and incentivizes, through the grant of tax credit, the invaluable pro bono services of physicians to the country with or without a pandemic,” Poe said in the bill’s explanatory note.

“It is expected that a tax incentive for providing charity care would increase physician participation and hours in such care,” Poe added.

Under the bill, physicians rendering pro bono services to indigent patients shall be entitled to a tax credit to be deducted from their gross income.

The bill mandates the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) to evaluate the pro bono services rendered by the physicians considering the number of hours they provided and the nature of treatment involved.

The bill tasks the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), in consultation with the DoH and the PMA, to create the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the proposed law.

According to Poe, in 2019, the Philippines has a doctor-to-patient ratio of 1:33,000, which is way off the 1:6,600 global average. The senator also noted that six out of ten Filipinos die without having consulted a doctor.

She further said the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the country’s healthcare system, highlighted the importance of having adequate number of doctors in protecting and advancing public health and also widened the gap to quality healthcare access among the poor and the marginalized.