The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will release an initial P30 billion to accredited hospitals to support them in their coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response.
“PhilHealth rests on solid ground and with sufficient liquidity to support government’s efforts to fight the COVID-19 threat,” said Ricardo Morales, Philhealth president and chief executive officer.
Philhealth said the move utilizes its interim reimbursement mechanism which will provide health care providers with the much-needed liquidity to adequately respond to the pandemic.
The agency said the amount is equivalent to three months’ worth of claims based on historical data, which will be charged to their future claims.
Hospitals will be asked to submit a letter of intent to avail of the mechanism. This will include those facing sanctions for various violations of their contracts with the national health insurer.
The arrangement is also part of PhilHealth’s efforts to reduce return-to-hospital payables filed in 2019 and earlier, and to further increase payments to hospitals.
The state health insurer said it will also provide its members and service partners with additional relief in view of the recent declaration of a state of public health emergency in the country by extending the deadline of payment of contributions for its self-paying direct contributors.
They can now pay their first quarter contributions on or before April 30, 2020 instead of March 31, 2020 without interest.
Its policy on single period of confinement and 45-days coverage are also waived in favor of the member, while the filing period for claims is also extended from the usual 60 days to at least 120 days in favor of the health care providers.
