The resolution submitted in the lower chamber contains issues that have been adequately responded to previously. PhilHealth reiterates its earlier statement denying the claim of PHAPI that 300 or so hospitals are facing closure due to delayed payments.
The Corporation (based on payment dates of claims per year) has paid a total of Php 114.6 billion to its accredited hospitals in 2018, and Php 97.4 billion in 2019. This year, PhilHealth has so far disbursed more than Php 43 billion, of which Php 24.5 billion or 56.8 percent were paid to private hospitals.
On another note, PhilHealth has paid the University of Sto. Tomas Hospital around Php 400 million in 2019 up until May 2020, and recently advanced Php 85 million as part of the Corporation’s CoViD-19 response. In its letter dated May 5, 2020, the USTH said that it is reconciling their claims records with PhilHealth’s.
The economic losses brought about by the pandemic have taken its toll in the overall business climate in the country, which also affect hospitals that reel from the sharp decrease in patient admissions due to Covid scare. However, this should not be attributed solely to alleged unpaid claims to a point of exhuming an old issue that is now being seriously addressed by the Agency.
PhilHealth continues to find ways to ensure that claims are fasttracked and paid within the prescribed period of 60 days as mandated by law. Aside from introducing the eClaims system, it is now utilizing its cloud platform to immediately inform hospitals of claims that failed the first level of data validation tests. Currently, it is also designating accounts reconciliation officers to support hospitals in claims records reconciliation, the solution agreed upon with the PHAPi in a meeting with Sen. Lawrence Go in 2019.
PhilHealth continues to call upon hospitals to reconcile their claims records with their regional offices to keep themselves updated of the status of their claims.