Zero-balance billing implemented in 87 DOH hospitals nationwide

The zero-balance billing in hospitals that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced during his State of the Nation Address on Monday is being implemented in 87 Department of Health institutions across the country, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa has said.

In a post-SONA discussion on Tuesday, Herbosa said that the DOH hospitals offering zero-balance billing do not include the four government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC), namely the Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Lung Center, National Kidney Transplant Institute, and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center.

To avail of zero-balance billing, a patient must be admitted to the basic accommodation or the ward of a DOH hospital.

“Basta 'wag lang kayo nasa private, kasi pag nagpunta ka sa private may bayad yung doctor, may bayad yung room. Basta nasa basic accommodation ka ng DOH, bayad na ang bill mo,” he said in a "24 Oras" report by Sandra Aguinaldo on Tuesday.

(As long as you are not in a private hospital where you have to pay the doctor and the room. As long as you are at the basic accommodation of DOH, the bill has already been paid.)

“Yung GOCC kasi, it has more private rooms than the basic accommodation. Kasi yung GOCC, they earn income, and then it subsidizes the ward accommodation. Pero meron kaming packages doon, yung mga benefit packages… Naco-cover nila na wala nang babayaran ang patient,” he added.

(The GOCC has more private rooms than the basic accommodation. The GOCC earns income and it subsidizes the ward accommodation. But we also have benefit packages there… They cover it so the patient no longer has to pay anything.)

The DOH started zero-balance billing in DOH hospitals on May 14, or before it was even announced by the President during his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

The program is a Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) coverage for all patients in government hospitals.

"We ask for the PhilHealth membership. We ask for the ID, then if the patient cannot provide the ID, meaning baka di siya member (meaning he or she probably isn’t a member), the hospital will facilitate for the enrollment of the patient to the PHIC or PhilHealth," said Dr. Iftizar Nakan Haron of the San Lazaro Hospital.

She said a guarantee letter from a government agency was no longer required.

Meanwhile, DOH clarified that PhilHealth will foot the bill, while other health funds and government agencies will cover other procedures not covered by the health insurance agency.

“For the PhilHealth, it's 100% coverage. That includes the minimum care provided by the hospital, also the hospital service, the bed, the drugs, medicines, and all other hospital services,” Haron said.

“Babayaran na lang ng government yung gastos sa gamot mo while in the hospital. Kung may mga gamot na 'di namin nabibili sa DOH hospitals, ito yung mga gamot na wala sa Philippine National Drug Formulary,” Herbosa said.

(The government only has to pay for the costs of your medicine in the hospital. If there are medicines that we can’t buy at DOH hospitals, these are the medicines not in the Philippine National Drug Formulary.)

Herbosa said that the DOH hospitals had adequate equipment and that the agency had sufficient funds to cover the needed billing.

“May budget talaga kami. Capital outlay, personal services, maintenance, and operating expense. Sagot ng government yun,” he said.

(We really have a budget. Capital outlay, personal services, maintenance, and operating expense. The government will pay for that.) — Jiselle Anne Casucian/BAP, GMA Integrated News