PhilHealth aims to pay unpaid claims before December

FILE PHOTO. PhilHealth

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is aiming to resolve its unpaid claims to private hospitals before December, assuring that it is doing its all to expedite the process.

PhilHealth spokesperson Rey Baleña made the assurance on Thursday after the Malacañang asked the agency to already pay reimbursement claims as they were threatening to sever ties with the state insurer.

Baleña said the agency has already mobilized resources and augmented human resources to expedite the release of funds to hospitals so it is expected to be finished before December.

“Ginagawa namin ang lahat ng makakaya namin [We are doing everything we can],” he said in a Laging Handa public briefing.

“Dapat po,” he answered when asked if the unpaid claims will be resolved before December.

Baleña assured that the state insurer is committed to pay the unpaid claims.

“Itong pagbabayad ng claims talagang pananagutan namin ito. Hindi namin ito tatalikuran,” he added.

(This is our obligation and we will do it.)

He asked the hospitals for understanding and more patience as the agency addresses the issue, reasoning that the pandemic has hampered its operations leading to the delay of release of funds.

He also assured that PhilHealth has also addressed some policy issues to further expedite the process.

PhilHealth also has sufficient funds to pay for the unpaid claims, Baleña added.

Lawmakers have called on PhilHealth to pay their unpaid claims to hospitals as some private hospitals have warned they were cutting ties with the government health system because of unpaid dues that had ballooned to P20 billion as of August.

JPV