MALACANANG yesterday assured the public that the Department of Health (DOH) has enough funds to settle the claims of private hospitals for services provided to indigent patients, even as 39 health institutions in Batangas experienced some delay in payments.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, citing a DOH report, said there are a lot of hospitals that continue to honor the guarantee letters and government hospitals usually give indigent patients “zero billing.”
“The government does not have problems paying the bills that are covered by guarantee letters. The DOH only requires the 39 hospitals to complete the supporting documents so that they can be paid,” Castro said.
The DOH has given the assurance that there are enough funds to cover the guarantee letters.
“To the other hospitals that need to collect payments, make sure that your documents are complete because the DOH has sufficient funds,” Castro added.
She also said that under the Universal Health Care Act and a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the DOH and private hospitals, the latter are required to allocate 10 percent of their authorized bed capacity for poor patients.
The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) said that some hospitals have temporarily stopped the acceptance of guarantee letters from patients under the government’s Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (Maifip) program, as over P530 million worth of claims have yet to be paid by the government.
