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The Social Security System (SSS) has an early Christmas gift for pregnant women filing maternity benefits: the agency has set additional guidelines on the receipt and processing of claims, to effectively implement Republic Act 11210 or the 105-day Expanded Maternity Leave Law (EMLL).
SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said the guidelines will be used for maternity benefit claims of every delivery, miscarriage, or emergency termination of pregnancy (ETP) that occurred on or after March 11, 2019.
“These new service procedures and standards, fitted to the provisions of the EMLL, are designed to expedite maternity benefit processing while still ensuring that there will be no fraudulent claims,” Ignacio said in a statement.
The additional guidelines include simpler documentary requirements for those filing a claim. Women who have cesarean deliveries will no longer be asked to provide additional documents indicating the type of delivery.
For those whose supporting documents have minor discrepancies and inconsistencies, the SSS will now receive and process them if the member’s identity can be established in them. Previously, these documents would have been returned to the individual filing the claim.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOWIn addition, those applying for their maternity benefit claims will now be given the option to either update or retain their maiden names.
For solo parents, additional documents will be required so that they may be granted an additional 15 days, as stated in the EMLL. They will be required to present a Solo Parent ID issued within two years from the date of delivery or certification of eligibility of the solo parent both issued by the Local Government Unit (LGU) and signed by the social worker and the city/municipal mayor.
For Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) members in apostille countries, they will now have a more efficient and less costly option of submitting supporting documents issued with an apostille by the Foreign Ministry, Embassy, or Consulate General, instead of authentication from the Philippine Embassy or Consulate General.
Meanwhile, the agency also makes the maternity reimbursement claim process easier for employers whose employees did not return to work and was not able to submit the documentary requirements. Employed members are now required to accompany their notification forms with proof of pregnancy such as pregnancy tests duly signed by a physician/municipal health officer, or diagnostic test results such as ultrasound or blood pregnancy tests.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOWLastly, SSS has started accepting maternity notifications of self-employed, voluntary, OFW, and non-working spouse members through its e-channels such as the SSS mobile app or My.SSS at www.sss.gov.ph.
Note that maternity benefit forms are downloadable at the SSS website. Existing forms may still be used until revised forms are available.
“With these new guidelines in place, we hope our members and their employers may conveniently access our maternity benefit program,” Ignacio said.
For the complete list of documentary requirements for the program and for more information, visit any SSS branch, its website at www.sss.gov.ph, or call the hotline at (02) 8920-6446 to 55 or send an email to member_relations@sss.gov.ph.
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