CCMC rate hike won’t cost patient a penny

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has clarified that the proposed rate hike for health services at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) and Guba Community Hospital will have “no effect” to the public.

Garcia explained that the increase will be absorbed by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth).

“So ang gibuhat lang gyud is ma at par lang with the Philhealth rates ang atoang CCMC, but we should also remember nga kaning mga rates nga atong ipareha sa Philhealth, that is kung ikaw ang pasyente sa CCMC, zero billing baya ka,” said Garcia.

Matching the rates of health would prevent the city government from further bleeding its resources. He cited as an example the laboratory fee for Complete Blood Count (CBC) which the CCMC charges only P30 while Philhealth rate is already P500.

“So whether the rates are sky-high or not, it doesn’t matter to the patient because he or she does not pay a single centavo,” Garcia added.

He explained that increasing the rate is very important because it will be used as the city government’s basis for collection from Philhealth. Garcia said that the income of CCMC is not enough for its operational expenses prompting the city government to subsidize at least P500 million a year for its maintenance.

“Kay gamay raman kaayo among makolekta sa Philhealth, pero karon nga imong i-increase ang rates sa services sa CCMC, dako nami’g makolekta sa PhilHealth but again, no effect to the patient,” said Garcia.

Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, chairman of the committee on health, has proposed to amend Section 67 Chapter 18 of the city’s tax ordinance.

Pesquera, in proposing the amendment, said that the current rates were based on the peso value in 2010. It highlighted that the conversion rate of a dollar to peso in 2010 was at P34 while the current conversion rate is already P56.76.

"The cost of services has increased tremendously and there is a need to adjust the rate of the fees that would at least commensurate with the costs," reads a portion of the ordinance. — (FREEMAN)