PhilHealth urged to expedite release of hospital claims amid Delta variant threat

At least two senators have urged the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to expedite the release of hospital claims amid the threat of Delta coronavirus variant in the country.

Senator Sonny Angara said most of the medical facilities are currently facing extreme pressures due to the pandemic and the government should settle its obligations swiftly.

“With the arrival of the Delta variant, there should be no disruption at all for our hospitals, especially when a surge in cases is highly possible. All efforts should be exerted by PhilHealth to settle the claims of these hospitals, particularly those that have been delayed for some time already,” Angara said in a statement.

He noted that this issue has been persistently raised by private and government hospitals that faced financial difficulties and even reduced their bed capacity due to the late payments.

The lawmaker filed Senate Resolution 774 to look into the delayed payment of claims by the PhilHealth.

In the resolution, Angara cited the report of the Philippine Hospital Association (PHA), an organization composed of close to 2,000 private and government hospitals, saying several of its members have been experiencing severe financial distress due to their unpaid claims from PhilHealth.

PHA president Jaime Almora noted that the claims of their members range from P50 million to P700 million, with one hospital accruing up to P1.2 billion.

The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) has faced the same problem with the reimbursements of claims from PhilHealth.

In April, PHAPI president Jose De Grano said the PhilHealth has estimated around P28 billion unpaid claims to private hospitals covering the period of March to December 2020.

Moreover, Senator Grace Poe also called on the Department of Budget and Management and the PhilHealth to "work harder" to expedite the release of funds for the health workers and for the hospitals with the threat of the more contagious Delta variant.

“We’ve been in this trying situation for over a year and both the DBM and PhilHealth have last year’s experience to draw from to improve their services in the next round of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine),” Poe said.

“We must do our utmost for the health sector and ensure that our medical frontliners and hospitals are paid to enable them to look after the sick and save lives. For as long as this isn’t done, our situation will just drag on. Huwag na nating paabutin pa ng season 10 ang ECQ,” Poe added.

With the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country again, the lawmaker said the hospitals must be adequately staffed and stocked with supplies.

“They can only do so if they themselves aren’t bleeding. We ought not to exacerbate an already tenuous situation by demoralizing our medical frontliners,” Poe stressed.

Last July 25, the lawmaker said some medical workers from government and public hospitals said they hardly felt the funding allocated for frontliners under the Bayanihan 1 and 2 Laws, adding that the special risk allowance were not yet released to the healthcare personnel.

The Department of Health on Monday said that the Bayanihan 3 Law is needed to provide funds for the healthcare workers’ special risk allowance and hazard pay until the end of the year.

Last May, PhilHealth had assured the public that it has enough funds to cover the unpaid claims it owes to hospitals amid complaints that the state health insurer’s obligations are mounting to billions of pesos.—AOL, GMA News