7 private hospitals in Iloilo City to renew accreditation with PhilHealth

ILOILO CITY—Seven private hospitals in Iloilo City that had earlier planned to disaffiliate from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) over unpaid claims will renew their accreditation with the state health insurer.

In a joint statement issued on Feb. 22, the heads of hospitals said they have decided to continue with their affiliation with PhilHealth after receiving a “minimum acceptable payment.”

The statement did not specify the amount, but the hospital management said on Dec. 31 that their unpaid claims reached more than P895 million and were expecting at least 80-percent settlement.

The hospital heads said there were provisions in their position paper sent to PhilHealth that were unmet, but they decided to renew their accreditation “in the interest of public health.”

“After a series of meetings and discussions, PhilHealth and the…seven hospitals mutually agreed on certain terms for a beneficial solution taking into consideration the welfare of the patients,” according to the joint statement.

The statement was signed by Dr. Elmer Pedregosa, administrator of the Iloilo Mission Hospital and president of the Private Hospitals Association in Iloilo; Dr. Danilo Encarnacion, president and chief executive officer of Metro Iloilo Hospital and Medical Center Inc.; Sr. Arcelita Sarnillo, administrator of St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo; Dr. Marcelo Jaen, president and medical director of Medicus Medical Center; Dr. Alejandro Emmanuel Rivera, president and medical director, Iloilo Doctors Hospital; Dr. Felix Ray Villa, chief executive officer of The Medical City of Iloilo; and Dr. Nathaniel Chan, chief operating officer of Qualimed Hospital Iloilo.

The hospital heads said they would continue to honor and process all valid claims of PhilHealth members.

But they said they would also pursue long-term reforms in PhilHealth and the country’s health care system.

The hospitals in December had announced that they would disengage from PhilHealth starting Jan. 1 this year due to depleted financial resources resulting from the unpaid claims.

The disaffiliation was suspended at the last minute after an agreement between the two parties was reached.

The seven private hospitals serve Western Visayas, composed of Antique, Aklan, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental provinces. They have a combined bed capacity of around 1,600.

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