No increase in medical fees for poor PGH patients

The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has suspended indefinitely the imposition of new and higher medical rates on poor patients.

In a statement, University of the Philippines (UP) president Alfredo Pascual said the suspension took effect Thursday based on an order issued by PGH director Jose Gonzales .

“Upon learning of the problem, I discussed the matter with  PGH Director Jose Gonzales and he responded immediately by indefinitely suspending the imposition of new rates on services given to ‘Class D’ patients,” Pascual said.

The government-run PGH is under the UP System.

In a memorandum, Gonzales said: “All class D rates embodied in Memo No. 2011-106 and Memo No. 2011-110 are hereby suspended indefinitely for further study and consultation with university authorities and all stakeholders.”

The June 9 and 10 memoranda set new and higher rates for poor patients seeking a diagnostic X-ray test, clinical microscopy procedures and other medical examinations.

The PGH implements a payment scheme that classifies patients based on their family’s monthly income.

Class D or “charity case” patients refer to those whose family income are below P7,500 a month. This entitles them to discounts ranging from 80 to 100 percent on fees for medical checkups. They are also exempted from paying for X-ray tests.

The PGH earlier revised the payment classification scheme as it cited the increasing cost of health care, the rapid increase in the number of patients and the inadequate government subsidy for the hospital.

Pascual noted that congressmen augment PGH’s inadequate resources by allocating funds to the hospital through congressional initiatives to pay for the medical needs of their poor constituents.

“A lot of these funds, however, have not been released by the national government. In 2010, only P16 million of the P321 million CI funds given to PGH was released to the hospital,” the UP president added. Julie M. Aurelio