PhilHealth pays P773M to Pampanga hospitals

Photo from Radyo Inquirer

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO –– The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has paid over P773 million to several hospitals handling COVID-19 patients and dialysis cases in Pampanga province.

The amount settled 60 percent of the claims from March 20 to April 7, 2021, Edgardo Faustino, PhilHealth vice president in Central Luzon, told the Provincial Board during a hearing Tuesday.

Vice Gov. Lilia Pineda called the hearing amid complaints of delays by health providers.

Faustino explained: “There is money available, but we haven’t been able to pay on time because of the system downtime. We cannot operate on full capacity because 50 percent of our personnel are working from home, and they cannot render overtime.”

The PhilHealth regional office has a limited workforce after COVID-19 infected 19 of its personnel and killed another, Faustino said.

He said the 40 percent of good claims would be paid in August.

The settlement was paid under the debit-credit payment method in areas where COVID-19 cases and facilities are at high risk, like the National Capital Region, Pampanga, and Batangas, he said.

Philhealth records showed that in Pampanga alone, the settlement was paid to 17 accredited private facilities and four accredited government facilities.

At Pineda’s suggestion, the Pampanga government will vaccinate 135 of 260 PhilHealth personnel in the region to help them fast-track the assessment of claims by hospitals. Half of the PhilHealth workforce had received two shots of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

Evelyn Yumul, vice president of The Medical City in Clark, said Philhealth had settled only 12 percent of the claims.

Other hospitals complained that the doctors’ professional rates were not set in the COVID-19 packages.

Dr. Sherry An de la Peña, PhilHealth benefit administration division head, said the matter was between the hospitals and doctors.

LZB