Hospitals group: Over P86 billion in claims not received from PhilHealth
MANILA, Philippines — Hospitals in the country have not received over P86 billion in claims from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. from January 2020 to June 30 this year, the Philippine Hospital Association told a House inquiry on Tuesday.
The PHA, citing data from PhilHealth, said that P25.6 billion in claims are still being processed, while P46.6 billion were found to be deficient and returned to hospitals, and another P13.8 billion were denied.
PHA president Jaime Almora said that all in all, P86,079,590,987.21 worth of claims have not been received by hospitals.
Almora said these unpaid, delayed and rejected claims could have been used to buy and improve hospital equipment, and provide better pay to healthcare workers.
“It would have been a big factor in helping the hospitals cope up with the past situation, especially during the second wave, and especially now that we are in the midst of the third wave and expecting it to grow even higher,” he said.
He added, “Arbitrary denial of payment resulting to losses to hospitals is not only unlawful, but also morally wrong. Constant and escalating loss to hospitals will ultimately lead to collapse and failure of healthcare delivery system and ultimately to the detriment of the whole country. The ultimate losers are the people of the Philippines.”
The country is now grappling with the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, which has left many hospitals unable to accept more patients who have contracted the disease.
Health authorities have logged over 14,000 cases for three straight days, while fatalities have breached 30,000. — Xave Gregorio
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