Duterte wants PhilHealth to settle hospital claims ASAP —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte has asked PhilHealth to settle billions of pesos worth of unpaid hospital claims as soon as possible amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Malacañang said Thursday.

"Kinakailangan na pong bayaran iyang pagkakautang na 'yan. Ang panawagan po ng Presidente kay [PhilHealth director Dante] Gierran ay dapat bayaran 'yan sa lalong mabilis na panahon," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news briefing.

(Those hospital claims should be settled. The President has called on Director Gierran to pay those claims as soon as possible)

"We need to see results now."

Roque noted that such dues should ne settled given the country's limited number of hospitals.

"If these remain unsettled, private hospitals won't be able to treat patients and we will not have public hospitals," he said.

PhilHealth said last week it is working double time in addressing P25 billion worth of unpaid claims by several hospitals “through constant dialogues and reconciliation of figures with hospital representatives at the regional level.”

Citing its records, PhilHealth said it paid a total of P166 billion for some 13.6 million claims, or 76.4% of the almost 18 million claims received from accredited government and private hospitals in the country from 2020 to June 30, 2021.  —KBK, GMA News