PhilHealth denies debts to private hospitals

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) in Central Visayas denies it owes private hospitals millions in debts.

Atty. Karisma Agraviador, head of PhilHealth’s Public Affairs Unit, made this clarification during the AGIO Forum yesterday.

Earlier, Rustico Jimenez, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, said that their member hospitals would no longer honor cards from PhilHealth if the government insurance would not settle its more than P2 billion debt.

Agraviador said that they asked for the names of these hospitals and found out that in Central Visayas, only the Visayas Community Medical Center in Cebu City is on the list.

It states that PhilHealth owes VCMC P22 million.

Agraviador said that PhilHealth-7 has already settled the said amount but the recording system of   VCMC is not updated.

“Mr. Jimenez based his statements on the records that were not updated. PhilHealth does not owe Visayas Community Medical Center anything,” Agraviador said in Cebuano.

But Agraviador admitted that there are claims that are denied by PhilHealth, which means, hospitals deducting such claims will not be reimbursed.

Denial of claims is either because the hospital’s accreditation is temporarily suspended or patients are confined even if it is not neccessary.

She clarified that their unpaid debts are those claims that are still on process by the hospitals.

Meanwhile, Dr. Avril Tiu of PhilHealth-7’s Benefits Administration Section said that their newly-launched Type Z package for catastrophic illnesses is primarily aimed to benefit indigent families that are PhilHealth members under sponsorship programs.

The program is dubbed as PhilHealth Benefit Package for Case Type Z.

Under the program, PhilHealth covers P120,000 for three years of treatment for Standard Risk Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) in children less than 10 years old; P100,000 for early stage of breast cancer (stage 0 to IIIA); P100,000 for low to intermediate risk prostate cancer and P600,000 for end-stage renal disease requiring kidney transplant (low risk).

Tiu emphasized that only those indigent members or beneficiaries   under the sponsorship program and are confined and treated at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center can avail of the packages.—(FREEMAN)