THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said reconciliation efforts are still ongoing regarding the unpaid claims of 39 private hospitals in Batangas for medical services covered by guarantee letters.
“DOH will continue to reconcile payables to specific private hospitals in compliance with prevailing laws and policies,” said the DOH. “This is (still) ongoing.”
The Department issued the statement after the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) earlier claimed that some hospitals have temporarily stopped accepting guarantee letters from patients under the government’s Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (Maifip) program.
This as over P530 million worth of hospital claims have yet to be paid by the government.
On Monday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro assured the private hospitals that the DOH has enough funds to settle their claims.
To prevent similar incidents in the future, the health department said it would be better if hospitals would rely more on the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
“In the past few months, DOH has been increasing the amounts PhilHealth pays to hospitals, while decreasing the waiting time to do so. Payment through PhilHealth should be better than through the Maifip system,” said the DOH.
It said such has been the practice in all hospitals under the DOH.
“The DOH, in its hospitals, does not use guarantee letters. It is only the DOH budget for the hospital and PhilHealth reimbursements,” said the DOH.
The health department similarly advised all hospitals to adhere to the provisions of the Universal Health Care Act.
“Always assess the paying capacity of patients and admit them to basic or ward accommodation for zero balance billing, or refer them to nearby DOH or government hospitals,” said the DOH.
