EDITORIAL - A continuing practice?

A resolution filed by Councilor Rey Gealon is calling on the Department of Health to look into the alleged practice by some private hospitals of asking for a deposit before they give a patient medical services.

“Unfortunately, despite the clear provisions of this law, we continue to hear of patients turned away, denied admission, or given limited care simply because they cannot afford to make a deposit,” said Gealon during his privilege speech during last Wednesday’s regular session of the City Council.

He cited a specific incident when a patient was taken to a hospital but the hospital asked first if they had insurance to pay for the procedures needed. He also presented a hospital bill that came along with a notice that they are “not for government assistance.”

We have heard these horror stories before; hospitals demanding money up front before offering any kind of help, forcing kin of patients needing immediate treatment to go to another hospital, then another, then another. In some cases, help came too late.

If this practice is indeed continuing and, as Gealon claims, is becoming a “troubling matter” then the DOH should look into this indeed.

Yes, hospitals are places of businesses, that is a fact that cannot be denied. The fees and other bills we pay them sustain them, their facilities, and their personnel. Of course, doctors and other medical workers need to be paid too, no question there. But shouldn’t they be first and foremost places where people are taken to to get well, and businesses second?

Many Filipinos families are just a medical emergency away from becoming poor, even those that are doing relatively well and can be classified as upper middle class. They may not be able to find all the money they need in an emergency immediately, but this shouldn’t stop them from getting the medical treatment they need when it matters most.