Health Secretary Dr. Teodoro Herbosa. —Inquirer file photo/Lyn Rillon
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is considering a policy requiring hospitals to publicize the number of available charity beds for indigent patients and the upfront fees they might incur upon confinement.
“We can issue an administrative order [for] hospitals to state that there are several beds open for charity beds,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said during a recent press briefing with the Valenzuela City local government unit.
“It’s been a long time since we started pushing for private hospitals to post their tables of their standard fees on their facilities, so their patients would know the possible costs the moment they enter the facility. If they cannot afford it, then they will opt to go to another hospital,” he noted.
READ: DOH gets complaints vs Valenzuela hospital for detaining patients’ kin
Under Republic Act No. 1939, all government hospitals are mandated to allot 90 percent of their bed capacity for free or charity, with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) shouldering the entire medical bill of indigent patients.
Meanwhile, private hospitals are required to allot at least 10 percent of their bed capacity as charity beds under DOH Administrative Order No. 2007-0041.
The DOH chief cited the “complicated” billing system of private hospitals, noting that while procedures and rates of rooms or wards are published, professional fees vary from one physician to another.
“We have been studying to standardize the hospital fees and professional fees. But we have to strike a balance. We do not want private hospitals to get bankrupt because they are filling the gaps of public hospitals,” Herbosa explained.
Controversial practice
The issue on charity beds was triggered by a “palit-ulo” controversy involving a private hospital in Valenzuela City.
The scheme involves detaining the relatives of a patient for failing to settle their bills—a way to circumvent Republic Act No. 9439 that prohibits the detention of patients who have yet to pay their hospital bills from leaving hospital premises—or withholding the documents of patients due to unpaid bills.
During the briefing, Valenzuela Mayor Wes Gatchalian said the four victims of “palit-ulo” scheme finally reached an agreement with the ACE Medical Center, putting a “closure” to the monthslong legal battle of the victims.
The “amicable settlement” involved ACE extending “financial assistance” amounting to P1 million each to four of the victims, who in turn retracted their complaints pending before the courts, prosecutor’s office, and government agencies.
Birth registration withheld
In April, the local government said illegal detention complaints were filed against the medical facility after it allegedly detained family members of patients who have yet to settle their medical bills.
Among them was Nerizza Zafra, who gave birth in the hospital in 2017 and remained confined with her daughter for more than a month.
Her bill reached almost half a million pesos, but she could pay only around P200,000.
The hospital initially refused to have them released, but she sought assistance from the Public Attorney’s Office.
While the mother and daughter were finally allowed to go home after challenging the hospital, the medical center refused to register the child’s birth certificate for not settling their remaining medical bill.
Government assistance
The Valenzuela city government responded to these incidents by enacting in May Ordinance No. 1178, series of 2024, also known as the Anti-Hospital Detention Ordinance.
It prohibits healthcare institutions or workers from detaining patients or their representatives or withholding birth and death certificates due to unpaid bills, provided a notarized promissory note is executed.
Gatchalian warned private hospitals in the city that the city government does not tolerate any form of exploitation or abuse of its citizens and vowed to assist any victims of such wrongful practices.