The Force Awakens: The Preparation (a.k.a. Preparing for D-Day)
So I’ve probably already mentioned that my little jedi will be named Lucas to give life to my and my husband’s juvenile dream to address him as our beloved Lucas Cay-walker. Silly as it may seem, it’s actually pretty thrilling! Imagine waiting for the force to awaken and once Luc is born, we can finally declare that our son will be bringing back the balance!
All joking aside, if there was one thing I learned over the past few months, it’s that preparing for a child could be so taxing. That’s not to say that each taxing moment was or is a miserable one, but they could have been/could be better. What consoles me is the fact that everything I’ve been doing is worth all the trouble since they’re all for my little light anyway.
Now what exactly are these taxing moments I speak of? Benefits.
Who knew that such a word could produce such frustrating moments! I’ve been researching on the www for instructions on how to claim maternity benefits from the government, more specifically from SSS and PhilHealth. Little did I know that I was in for a surprise. There is just so much to do. Worst part of it all is that I am quite the dummy when it comes to all things government. No matter how you try to explain it to me in writing, I would never understand completely until someone discusses it to me personally using layman’s terms. Anything government-related just gets me soooo sleepy and uninterested.
However, since the situation calls for it, I decided to break free from my preconceived perception of government-related information and give the www a shot. Maybe I could finally get that tinge of interest - just enough of it - needed in order for me to understand what I should be doing in preparation for my delivery, which will be pretty soon, if I may add.
SSS
So apparently, from my understanding, my registration or claim or whatever you would call it would be denied by the SSS. Therefore, it seems like I won’t be receiving any benefits from them for this little guy’s awakening.
Why?
Well, from what little I’ve read about the process, it appears that I should have submitted a maternity notification of sorts to SSS or to my employer (who would then relay the notification to the government agency) within 60 days of Lucas’ conception.
Given how big my tummy now is, I think that’s one impossible feat now, don’t you think? Unfortunate, though, since the benefits I would have received would have been much larger than the amount covered by PhilHealth.
Again, how come nobody told me about this earlier?!
PhilHealth
As for this one, no notifications are necessary, although I should have been an active contributor for the past 3 to 9 months - this is still a little confusing for me, since my mind juggles up all the words in the website whenever I try to understand what they’re trying to say.
Unfortunately, my last contribution was made September of last year.
So what now?
That’s what I’ll try to find out tomorrow (or today, rather) when I visit our local PhilHealth office. I hope they could shed some light on how my husband and I could work our way around the months when we had contributed zero. (That’s another problem! My husband’s contributions stopped December of last year.) From how I see things, I think we’re in for a storm as we might have to pay quite an amount just so we could avail of the benefits. It would be worth all the trouble, though, since my OB advised that we’d be saving so much (even up to PHP30,000.00, if I remember correctly) if we were updated on our PhilHealth contributions.
So, tomorrow we find out.
I’ll be posting yet another one of this soon for updates on how my husband and I have managed to fix this issue - if there could still be any fixing done!
Gawd, I can’t wait for Luc to bring back the balance.