Hospitals group postpones planned 'PhilHealth holiday'

An association of major private hospitals in the country will no longer push through with its planned "PhilHealth holiday" next month during which deductions for health services would not be accepted, according to its leader on Wednesday.

In an interview on Unang Balita, Dr. Jose Rene de Grano, president of the Private Hospitals Associations of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI), said this was agreed upon by their members during a recent meeting.

"Ngayon po, kinausap namin ang aming mga miyembro at hindi na po namin ipagpapatuloy ang PhilHealth holiday (We talked with our members and we will no longer push through with the PhilHealth holiday]," he said.

De Grano said PHAPI decided to postpone the protest action to educate the public first on the purpose of the PhilHealth holiday and to give patients instructions on what to do during its implementation.

PHAPi initially scheduled a five-day PhilHealth holiday starting January 1, 2022, as a protest over the delayed claims from PhilHealth amounting to billions of pesos.

In a statement Tuesday, PhilHealth called on its member hospitals to rethink their planned five-day protest.

However, seven private hospitals in Iloilo have earlier decided to cut ties with PhilHealth over the delayed payment of claims.

De Grano, during the Unang Balita interview, said hospitals that already cut their ties with PhilHealth may still continue with their protest.

"Yung nasa Iloilo na nakapagdesisyon na na kumalas sa Philhealth, tingin po namin itutuloy nila 'yan dahil naputol na ang pakikipag-ugnayan nila sa PhilHealth," he said.

(Regarding the hospitals in Iloilo that have decided to cut ties with PhilHealth, I think they would push through with that because they have stopped coordinating with PhilHealth.)

Under its mandate, PhilHealth is tasked with administering the National Health Insurance Program which aims to provide health insurance coverage and ensure affordable, acceptable, available, and accessible health care services for all citizens of the Philippines.

PhilHealth last month said it was seeking to settle unpaid claims to private hospitals by December, as it blamed the lack of manpower amid the COVID-19 pandemic for the payment failures.

“As of December 24, 2021, PhilHealth has fast tracked the release of P11.64 billion for payment of claims through the Debit Credit Payment fast-tracked to hospital partners nationwide,” the state insurer said. 

According to De Grano, the debt of PhilHealth to private hospitals is still around P9 to P10 billion.

He then urged PhilHealth to respond to the concern of hospitals about unpaid claims as it affects the facilities' services in providing health services and benefits to patients. 

Gov't hospitals

Meanwhile, in a Super Radyo dzBB interview later in the day, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured the public that government hospitals are ready to admit patients if the planned “PhilHealth holiday” pushes through.

“Handang-handa tanggapin sila sa mga government hospitals lalo na ngayon mababa naman yung utilization rate, mababa lang ang bilang ng COVID-19 cases,” he said.

(Government hospitals are ready to accept patients because of the low utilization rate and low number of COVID-19 cases in the country.)

Duque also called on the private hospitals to understand the situation as he assured that PhilHealth is already processing the payment of claims in accordance with its mandate.

“Unang-una nasa pandemya tayo, kailangan unawain din yung situwasyon, madedehado rito yung ating mga pasyente eh sila naman ang mga miyembro ng PhilHealth. At ang PhilHealth naman ay ginagawa ang lahat ng kanyang legal na mandato,” he said.

(First of all, we are in a pandemic, we also need to understand the situation, our patients will be affected because they are the members of PhilHealth. And PhilHealth is doing all of its legal mandates.) —with Richa Noriega/KBK, GMA News