FEU medical foundation cuts ties with PhilHealth

The Far Eastern University-Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation (FEU-NRMF) has disengaged with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) after its receivables from the agency rose to P200 million by the end of November.

Chief Operating Officer Juan Enrique Reyes said the hospital will no longer deduct PhilHealth benefits from the hospital bills of members.

“It was a very difficult decision, but given the circumstances, altruism must give way to pragmatism. We simply cannot treat our patients or help our students if we are not financially viable,” Reyes said in an advisory to members.

Despite this, Reyes assured that they will provide all the necessary forms that will allow patients to apply for reimbursements on their own.

At the start of the year, Reyes said its receivables from PhilHealth stood at P114 million before increasing to P200 million by November 30, 2021.

Reyes said their receivables had increased by P8 million every month.

“As you can see, the claims paid are far less than our claims submitted, despite the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism and Debit Credit Payment Mechanism (DCPM) liquidations,” he said.

He said the FEU-NRMF will continue working with PhilHealth to reach an amicable settlement.

“Rest assured our goal is to reach an understanding with PhilHealth, but we must take this opportunity to fight for necessary reforms. We are making it clear that we can no longer accept the current situation. We must make changes, or hospitals will close,” he said.

Meanwhile, PhilHealth spokesperson Gigi Domingo said the agency is meeting with FEU to reconcile the data and discuss their issues.

“We are still hoping that the implementation of DCPM 3 will provide the much-needed funds to the hospitals. In coordination with PHA, we have been meeting with hospitals nationwide to discuss DCPM 3,” she told GMA News Online.

Earlier this month, seven private hospitals in Iloilo have decided not to renew their contracts with PhilHealth, citing some P545 million in delayed claims payments.

PhilHealth previously said it expects unpaid claims to private hospitals to be settled before December.

In November, the agency said it had released P152.8 billion from January 2020 to October 28, 2021, equivalent to 75% of all the claims it received during the period.—AOL, GMA News