Private hospitals group urged to call off ‘PhilHealth holiday’
MANILA, Philippines — The state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) asked private hospitals to rethink their planned “PhilHealth holiday,” saying ordinary Filipinos would be the ones to ultimately suffer.
The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) is urging its members not to accept claims for PhilHealth deductions for health services from Jan. 1 to 5.
“Sana hindi matuloy ito ng PHAPI. Sana mare-think ang call na ito. In the end ang magsa-suffer ay ‘yung members,” PhilHealth spokesperson Shirley Domingo said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
(I hope the PHAPI will not push through with this. I hope they will reconsider. In the end, the members will be the ones to suffer.)
“Ginagawa ng PhilHealth ang lahat para makipag-usap sa kanila,” she added.
(PhilHealth is doing everything to talk to them.)
Domingo said the state insurer has already reached out to PHAPI to discuss and address their concerns, particularly over reimbursements.
The “PhilHealth holiday” is a way to show support for hospitals that earlier announced their disengagement from the health insurer due to mounting unpaid claims, PHAPI president Dr. Jose de Grano earlier said.
Domingo said PhilHealth has so far paid more than P155 billion worth of claims amid the pandemic, P11.64 billion of which were paid to its partner hospitals through the Debit Credit Payment Method.
