INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Hospitals waiting for reimbursements from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) must not be made to wait much longer amid their efforts to protect and save lives during the pandemic, Senator Grace Poe said Friday.
Citing Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) president Jose de Grano, Poe said the amount of reimbursement applications with PhilHealth has reached P26 billion to P28 billion as of December 2020.
This amount is an “extrapolation” from their 114 member hospitals that submitted their claims, excluding private health institutions outside Metro Manila, said De Grano.
“This situation weighs heavily on our medical frontliners, patients, and the most vulnerable among our people. Wag na natin silang pahirapan pa, antagal na nilang nagsasakripisyo at nagtitiis (Let’s not put more burden on them, they have been sacrificing for a while now),” Poe said in a statement.
“Our hospitals are already bleeding while our medical frontliners put their lives on the line amid the systemic ills that affect our overall capacity to get back on our feet,” the senator added.
Poe said that even President Rodrigo Duterte himself has instructed the due reimbursement of hospitals.
“Buhay ang patuloy na ibinubuwis ng ating mga kababayan sa bawat araw ng pandemya. Walang lugar ang patuloy na panggigipit at pagpapabaya (They are sacrificing their lives in each day of the pandemic. There is no place for neglect),” Poe said.
“We must assist our frontline healthcare institutions in the same efficacious way that our people expect them to diligently attend to their patients,” she added.
Poe likewise reminded PhilHealth that under Administrative Order No. 23 dated Feb. 21, 2020, all national government agencies are directed to hasten the reform of their processes in order to eliminate overregulation.
The order, Poe said, stated that government agencies shall retain only steps, procedures, and requirements that are necessary to fulfill their legal mandates and policy objectives.
Duterte earlier ordered PhilHealth to speed up its hospital claims payment.
PhilHealth chief Dante Gierran has acknowledged that the agency has been slow in processing unpaid claims from hospitals.