DOH has enough funds to pay private hospitals, Palace says
Presidential Press Officer Claire Castro. Screengrab from RTVM/Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has assured the public that the Department of Health (DOH) has sufficient funds to settle the claims of private hospitals for services and treatments provided to indigent and financially incapacitated patients.
In a press briefing on Monday, Palace Press officer Claire Castro clarified reports that some health facilities have stopped accepting government guarantee letters covering the hospital bills of patients without the financial capacity to pay.
Citing the DOH, Castro said only 39 private hospitals in Batangas were facing issues with guarantee letters due to incomplete or missing documentation.
“The government is not having any problems when it comes to paying the bills of our fellow citizens who are covered by guarantee letters,” Castro said.
READ: DOH: Aid better delivered thru PhilHealth, not guarantees
“This only applies to the 39 hospitals where the DOH still requires additional documents in order for them to be paid. So to the hospitals seeking payment, just complete your documents because, according to the DOH, there are sufficient funds available,” she explained.
P41-B budget
A guarantee letter is a document issued by a government official or an agency that is addressed to a service provider, which ensures the payment of a service on behalf of the beneficiary.
It is among the requirements for patients who want to lessen their hospital bills or medicines in private facilities under the DOH’s Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program.
Based on its 2025 budget, the DOH has P41.16 billion allocated for the MAIFIP.
It is a social program of the DOH created in 2014 to ease the out-of-pocket spending of indigent and financially incapacitated patients needing medical services outside the coverage of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
According to the DOH, there are more than 80 DOH-run hospitals, 550 local government hospitals, 511 private hospitals, and 20 treatment and rehabilitation centers nationwide where patients can avail of financial assistance under MAIP.
The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) said election-related disruptions and staff shortages in government offices are causing the delay in payments for hospital services covered by guarantee letters.
PHAPI president Dr. Jose Rene De Grano said the DOH and other concerned agencies attributed the slow processing of MAIFIP payments to hospitals to the high volume of guarantee letters they needed to process during the recent election period.
“Our member hospitals said that there were too many guarantee letters and there were only a few personnel who will process this,” he added.
PHAPI reported that some hospitals in Batangas earlier received payments amounting to P577 million under the MAIFIP program although they still have around P450 million worth of receivables.
Despite the mounting unsettled dues, De Grano said PHAPI member hospitals are continuing to accept guarantee letters while waiting for the government to cover their unpaid obligations. /mr
