Malacañang lauded the decision of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) to postpone their plan to have a PhilHealth Holiday in January 2022 in a press briefing on Wednesday, Dec. 29.
The said holiday aims to protest over the delayed claims from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) amounting to hundreds of millions to private hospitals.
Acting Presidential Spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles read the official statement of Philhealth in the press briefing and explained how the Debit-Credit Payment Method (DCPM) scheme of the agency can help in the immediate release of funds for the private hospitals.
“Ayon po sa kanilang official statement [PhilHealth], ‘As of December 24, 2021, PhilHealth has fast-tracked the release of P11.64-B for the payment of claims through the Debit-Credit Payment Method (DCPM) to hospital partners nationwide’,” Nograles said.
“Under the third wave of DCPM, all hospitals treating COVID patients and those offering the PhilHealth testing package can now avail of the DCPM-3. To date, 182 hospitals have submitted their letter of intent to participate in DCPM-3,” he added.
“DCPM-3 provides the fast release of funds to qualified hospitals, even while their reimbursement claims are still being processed. Under this scheme [DCPM-3], 60% kaagad will be paid initially to the hospitals and the remaining 40% will be settled upon completion of processing requirements,” he added.
Nograles said the plan to have a PhilHealth Holiday will affect the hospitals’ services to patients. He then urged the hospitals to participate instead in the DCPM-3 so that there will be no interruption of services to the people.
“The best is to participate sa DCPM-3, para sa ganoon magkaroon ng fresh funds ang hospital. Hindi po maaapektuhan ang serbisyo sa taumbayan at sa mga pasyente na nangangailangan ng hospital care,” he said.
“Kasi ang magiging biktima nito would be iyong mga pasyente. Kung wala pong pondo, wala pong pera ang hospitals. Mahihirapan po silang magserbisyo sa taumbayan, sa kanilang mga pasyente,” he added.
Nograles lauded the decision of PHAPI to suspend its PhilHealth Holiday plan and said that the agreement between PHAPI members was the best way to move forward on the issue.
“I think the PHAPI have decided to suspend itong planned PhilHealth holiday na tini-threaten ng ilang mga hospitals. I think that’s the best way to move forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rene De Grano, President of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. clarified that they considered the requests from their patients to put hold their holiday plan in the first week of January 2022.
“Naka-receive kami ng requests from patients and dependents sa PhilHealth na kung maaari ay pag-aralan munang mabuti kung papaano sila magco-cope kung sakaling mag-holiday. Sa ganoon po ay hindi po muna namin itutuloy sa Jan. 1-5 ‘yung PhilHealth Holiday,” De Grano said.
PhilHealth thanked the association for canceling the planned holiday and said reconciliation meetings between the agency and the hospitals are ongoing.
“There are still claims [that are] being processed within our offices. Hindi lahat ‘yun ay utang na sinasabi because some of it [claims] are still within the 60-day period,” PhilHealth Spokesperson Dr. Shirley Domingo said in an interview.
Earlier, the PHAPI initially planned to push through their PhilHealth Holiday plan starting Jan. 1, 2022, as a protest against the hundreds of millions worth of unpaid claims of PhilHealth to private hospitals.
Seven private hospitals in Iloilo have earlier decided to cut ties with PhilHealth over the delayed payment of claims. These are:
- Metro Iloilo Hospital & Medical Center Inc.
- Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital
- Iloilo Mission Hospital
- Medicus Medical Center
- Qualimed Hospital Iloilo
- St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo
- The Medical City of Iloilo
PhilHealth is tasked to manage the National Health Insurance Program of the country. It aims to provide health insurance coverage and ensure affordable, acceptable, available, and accessible health care services for all citizens of the Philippines. -with reports from Naomi Tiburcio/CC- bny
