Zero-balance billing to exclude drunk drivers, those not wearing seatbelts –Herbosa

Motorists who aren't wearing helmets and seatbelts, and those who have been drinking alcohol, are excluded from the Department of Health's zero-balance billing if they get hurt and end up in DOH hospitals, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said on Thursday.

Herbosa, thus said, as he cited data that 13,000 died in 2023, or an average of 35 deaths a day, because of road crashes.

"As a trauma surgeon and emergency physician, I have dedicated significant time and effort to research and policy development, focusing on trauma scoring systems, epidemiology of road crash injuries, and the impact of alcohol intoxication on road fatalities," Herbosa said.

"These studies have reinforced an undeniable truth that road crashes are preventable," he added.

Herbosa said the goal was to reduce road traffic deaths and serious injuries by 50% in 2028

"Today I am announcing that if you are admitted because you are not wearing a helmet, you are not wearing a seatbelt, or were drinking, you are now disqualified from the zero-balance billing," Herbosa said.

Zero-balance billing is being implemented in 87 Department of Health institutions across the country.

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,” Herboa said.

(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.)

READ: LIST: Gov't hospitals that offer zero-balance billing

The zero-balance billing program was one of the items that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. announced in his fourth State of the Nation Address. –NB, GMA Integrated News